Death Worm
by Sharkness
Summary: The Desert Resort of Unova, a land of mystery, myths and relics, a lonely wilderness like no other. But two travellers are about to encounter one of the Desert's most famous legends- the malevolent creature hiding in the sands that spits poison and electricity at all those it wishes to kill... Will they survive the wrath of the Death Worm?
1. Check-In

**A/N: Well here I am folks! Me, Sharkness, returning with a new Fanfic, 'Tremors'! **

**This is in the same series as my first Fanfic, 'Slendermon', where my main characters Aaron and Ronnie get attacked by all kinds of vicious monsters from myth and legend, and this one focuses on the legend of the Mongolian Death Worm (note: you don't have to have read Slendermon to read this. Most of what happened in Slendermon will be explained in little bits, and it will be referenced, but new time readers shouldn't be put off).**

**Competition time- I'll do what I did with Slendermon, and a 'guess the monster competition'. First person to PM me a correct guess as to what species of Pokemon the monster is wins an OC in my next story! :)**

**On with the show... :D**

Towards the southern end of the Unova region, situated in between the bustling, cosmopolitan Nimbasa City and the towering metropolis of Castelia City, there is an incredibly large, barren desert. Unova Route 4 runs right through this desert, covered by the ever-shifting sands, and many travellers of this Route will tell you stories of the desert; the rapid forming, fast blowing sandstorms that spring up suddenly and without warning, for example. Maybe they'll tell about the treacherous patches of quicksand, or of the aridness and lack of oases to provide much needed water. Maybe they'll tell you of the incredible heat and strong sunlight, or of the incredibly strong and hardy Pokemon that have adapted to live there. Or even, they may tell you of the stunning isolation you feel in the desert; the big cities it is sandwiched in between are not visible from within, and the minuscule amount of other civilisation provides you with a feeling of loneliness unmatched anywhere on the planet...

Yet there was something in this wilderness, and it was an impressive sight to behold. A vast, sprawling, ultra-modern complex, nestled in a slight valley in the desert sands, light glimmering off the glass windows as the searing sunlight blazed down on all below it. This was the new "Desert Resort", Unova's newest and most popular tourist destination.

This was where Aaron Rhodes and Ronnie Starks had just arrived. Aaron was brown haired, blue eyed, medium height, and dressed in jeans, a white T-shirt and a grey trenchcoat. No wonder he was feeling the heat. His partner Ronnie, tan-skinned with green eyes and spiky hair, didn't however- dressed in cargo shorts and a tight blue T-shirt, she was used to the desert heat anyway, as she used to train her Pokemon there.

"Good afternoon sir and madam, and welcome to the Desert Resort. How may I help you?" asked the concierge in a sophisticated British accent, as Aaron and Ronnie walked in. Black haired with a gelled quiff, blue glittering eyes and a permanent smile, he walked over to them from behind his desk, before stopping and looking at Aaron, who appeared to be bowing in prayer to a large Rotom-shaped fan set up just inside the entrance to blow cool air over visitors.

"He's not with me," Ronnie said quickly, noticing her boyfriend's behaviour and blushing in embarrassment. Aaron finally stopped bowing to the fan and got up off the floor to greet the concierge.

"We get that every time someone arrives, Miss Starks," said the concierge, smiling. "Mr Rhodes is not the first, and to be perfectly honest I don't blame him."

"See?" Aaron said, sticking his tongue out at Ronnie childishly. "I AM normal, thank you very much." He then paused, as if he'd missed something vital. "Wait a minute. How do you know her name?"

The concierge smiled, and for the first time Ronnie noticed the little name badge with 'Damien' written on it. "Damien!" she cried, leaping forward to hug the bemused worker. "I can't believe I didn't recognise you!"

"It has been two years," said Damien, chuckling, as he was knocked back by Ronnie's bearhug. "I wouldn't blame you." He then noticed the confused look on Aaron's face, and indicated him to Ronnie. "So, are you going to introduce me properly?"

"And are you going to explain who this guy is, and how he knows who you are?" asked Aaron.

Ronnie grinned. "Damien, this is Aaron Rhodes, my boyfriend, from Undella Town."

"A pleasure to meet you," said Damien, extending a hand to Aaron, who shook it firmly. "Boyfriend eh? You poor, poor man."

"Tell me about it," smirked Aaron. "She's unbelievable sometimes!"

"Hey!" said Ronnie, hands on hips, glaring at the two guys laughing at her.

"Too true," said Damien. "My name is Damien Faraday, and my family have lived in the desert for over 100 years. I grew up here, and when Miss Starks came to the desert to train her Pokemon, I was her training buddy."

"Oh right, said Aaron. "That explains why you two are used to this heat and I'm not." Then his pencil thin eyebrows furled into a frown. "So then, how do you know my name?"

"That's an easy one," smiled Damien. "I was in charge of handling your luggage up to your room."

"Fair enough," shrugged Aaron, satisfied that Damien wasn't stalking him. "Mind telling me what room we're in then?"

Damien whistled, and a Swoobat flew through the air, dropping 2 pairs of keys into Aaron's outstretched palm. "Thanks Amour," Damien said. The Swoobat chirped and started fluttering around Damien's head as he spoke. "Two sets of keys, one each, for Room 302, the Luxor Suite. Best apartment in the hotel, with one giant four poster bed for you two to share. Someone likes you to pay for that."

Aaron grimaced; he didn't want to tell Damien the reason they were here. He shuddered as the memories came flooding back. "Slendermon," he whispered to himself. "No more."

Oblivious, Ronnie thanked Damien and took the keys, Damien showing them to the stairwell. "Top floor, first room on the right. And one last rule of the hotel lovebirds- if you're sharing a bed, do keep the noise down overnight." A grinning Damien, along with his chuckling Swoobat, left the blushing couple at the bottom of the stairs to return to the desk.

"Can't believe we were booked the best suite in the whole damn hotel," remarked Aaron, as they started to climb the long stairs. "I thought Police budgets were tight nowadays?"

"And I can't believe we get a giant four-poster!" said Ronnie. "It's amazing."

"Not for me."

"Why?"

"Because you snore like a Grumpig," Aaron said, smirking as he unlocked the room door with his keys. Ronnie's indignant cry was ignored as he stepped inside the room. "Wow..."

Luxury was possibly not good enough for this room. Plush beige carpets and beige wall paint, not standing out and accentuating the wonderfully luxurious features of the Luxor Suite. The four-poster was gigantic, with plump pillows and light brown curtains pulled back against the chocolate coloured frame. Huge glass windows comprised the far wall, giving a stunning panoramic view of the desert landscape. There were dark red armchairs, a giant Samsung 40 inch TV against the wall opposite the bed, two expansive wardrobes, and a large fridge in the far corner. Through an open archway on the left, an amazing bathroom with a titanic whirlpool bath, through the other archway on the right (this one with a door), a separate bedroom for their Pokemon. It was paradise- in a hotel room.

As Ronnie ran to the bed shouting something along the lines of "I call top bunk!", Aaron closed the door behind him, and took in his room and the outstanding class of it all. He'd never seen anything this good in his life. Even their suitcases were up here already, on the armchairs waiting for them.

"You know, I take back everything I may have said about the Police in the past," he said to no-one in particular, hanging his trenchcoat on an elaborate hook behind the door. "They really know how to treat people well."

"Oh really?" said Ronnie from the bed. "Have a look at this then."

As Aaron threw himself backwards onto the bed beside Ronnie (noting how incredibly comfortable and soft the mattress was. It was perfect), she handed him a white envelope, labelled 'Aaron and Ronnie'. Opening it, he found two packets of condoms inside, along with a note- 'Enjoy'.

"A wonderful example of police humour and intellect there," Aaron said sarcastically, smiling all the same. He threw the envelope to one side, then noticed something else interesting on his oak bedside table. "Hey look, the TV remote! Wonder if the Pokemon Baccer's on?"

Ronnie sighed. "Two minutes in the room, and already you want the Baccer on?"

"But it's the big game to decide the title!" Aaron protested. "Nimbasa United vs Opelucid Dragons! I HAVE to watch it!"

"No," Ronnie said firmly. "You are not having the Baccer on, we are on holiday. Give me the remote."

She rolled across Aaron to snatch the remote from his outstretched left hand, which started a complicated wrestling match between the couple which ended after about ten seconds, both hot and flustered, with Ronnie the ex-gymnast on top of her partner, pinning him down.

Ronnie smiled and leant down to kiss her boyfriend's lips, and stood up off of him, before showing him what she'd nabbed from him while he was distracted- the TV remote.

Walking over to the door, Ronnie stuck her tongue out at her bemused boyfriend. "Coming to explore the hotel or not? Because you can't watch the TV you know..."

Groaning, Aaron eased himself up off the bed and to the door, where his girlfriend was waiting out in the corridor.

"Ronnie?" he asked, standing in the doorframe.

"Yeah?"

"You may have stolen the remote off me..."

"Yeah?"

"But guess what I stole from you?" Aaron brought his hands out his pockets to reveal that he had both his and Ronnie's keys to the room. "Good night." He shut and locked the door to the room, leaving Ronnie trapped outside in the corridor with only the remote.

"Aaron!"

**(***)**

3 hours later, Aaron had, after much convincing, given Ronnie her keys back, on the agreement that she wouldn't hog the remote, and he wouldn't watch the Baccer. Both had been shown around the Desert Resort by Damien (who found the envelope very funny), and both were impressed mightily. With 400 rooms, around 6 restaurants, a huge pool and a giant leisure centre (complete with spa, gym and shops), all maintained by a staff of 500 humans and 1000 Pokemon, the Desert Resort was serious business- the largest tourism complex in the entire world.

After this, they booked a trip out for the next day to the Relic Castle, somewhere Aaron had never been. They also shared a stunning Italian meal in one of the restaurants in the Resort, prepared by a chef trained by the legendary Striaton Brothers. Well, someone else was paying for it.

Aaron and Ronnie were there as part of an International Police witness protection scheme- a week ago in Undella Town, they'd been attacked by a horrific monster, a Team Plasma experiment gone wrong; the ten-foot-high, black-maned, thin and muscly once-Zoroark they'd named the 'Slendermon'. They barely survived. Detective Looker of the International Police had paid for them to go to the Desert Resort, to protect them from the press, and also to let them relax. It was working so far.

Contently full on amazing Italian food, they were now back in their room at 8 o clock, the late sunset over the dunes showcasing the brilliant scenery and providing a sublime backdrop to... watch the TV, apparently. But there was important news on the TV; news that affected them directly.

"Good evening Unova, this is the 8 o clock news, with Simon Bates," said the anchorman. "Our top story tonight is the dramatic verdict of the trial of leading members of Team Plasma, after their chaotic attempts to seize control over the region. Our reporter Delilah Maxwell is outside Opelucid National Court for us right now. Delilah, what's the scoop?"

The camera cut to a pretty-looking young woman stood, under a lit streetlight, outside the dramatic pillared frontage of Opelucid's centre of justice. Ronnie and Aaron both looked at each other, before leaning forward in anticipation.

"Thanks Simon," Delilah the reporter said. "It's been a dramatic and pivotal day in Unovan history as this 3-day trial, one of the most famous in the history of the justice system came to a close today. Here are the brief outlines of who's got what..." At this point the images changed to those of Ghetsis, the horrible ex-leader of Team Plasma, in the court room. Aaron and Ronnie shuddered at the sight of the man.

"Ghetsis Harmonia, leader of Team Plasma overall, was found guilty of a number of charges, including treason, conspiracy to commit treason, mistreatment of Pokemon and most notably mistreatment of children, after he forced his son, Natural Harmonia Gropius (N for short) into becoming Team Plasma's figurehead, doing what Ghetsis told him to do. Ghetsis has been found guilty, and been sentenced to death by hanging." This got a cheer from Ronnie and Aaron.

"N Harmonia has been acquitted of all charges, as his father Ghetsis had forced him into making most of Plasma's controversial decisions, and due to the history of child abuse and neglect." A picture of the once King was showed, flanked by the Legendary of Ideals Zekrom. "However, N Harmonia is not in Unova as of present to receive the judgement; police efforts to find him are continuing."

"You see, I don't get that at all," said Ronnie. "He was their King! He had to have known what they all did!"

"Yes, he did know," replied Aaron. "But I also know he didn't want it."

Ronnie looked at him, curiosity in her eyes. "Surely after everything, you'd be the last to defend Plasma, especially their King? How do you know he was against everything?"

"Simple. You know the Nuvema Twins?"

Ronnie nodded. Who didn't know them? Hilbert and Hilda Grey, aka Black and White, were twins, brother and sister, who became incredibly powerful Trainers in Unova. Rumour had it that both of them had beaten Alder in later matches- the definite fact everyone agreed on was that they had been instrumental in taking down Plasma. They were Unovan heroes. "Yeah?"

Aaron held up his Xtransceiver. "I have the numbers of both twins."

Ronnie's eyes widened. "Really? No way!"

"Yes way," Aaron smiled. "I met them both in Iccirus City a while ago, and they call me regularly. It's amazing what you find out from them."

"Like?"

"Well, Hilbert said today, when we were talking about what the result of the trial may be, that N is actually a really nice guy when out of Ghetsis' shadow, but that Ghetsis forces and bullies him to do Ghetsis' bidding. It really isn't his fault." Aaron paused. "Oh, and yesterday I found out that N is dating Hilda."

Ronnie's mouth was wide open now, agape in shock. "No!"

"I know! Isn't that awesome? The Hero of Ideals, and the Hero of Truth's sister, dating!"

"Wow..." Ronnie said. "That's awesome..." However, her wonder at learning this was soon replaced as the section on N ended and was replaced by something that chilled her and Aaron to the bone; scientist Colress. The man behind the Slendermon.

"Colress Achroma," said Delilah on-screen, "the brilliant yet insane head of Team Plasma's science department, was captured a week ago after the shocking events in Undella Town caused by a rogue Pokemon experiment of his." At this point, Ronnie and Aaron hugged, fighting back tears- they remembered it all too well. The pictures the TV showed of Undella Town in carnage, and some of Achroma's captured experiments, were sickening. They remembered it all too well.

"Convicted of crimes against humanity and Pokeality, Achroma will hang alongside his once-master Ghetsis. The Police will not confirm whether the captured experiment was the Legendary Genesect- however, they can confirm that after close examination, the specimen was destroyed."

Aaron and Ronnie cheered. At least the nightmare of Undella Town was over. Then their attention returned to the TV.

"However Delilah, there is a huge twist in the tale where the Seven Sages are concerned," said Simon the anchorman. "Please shed some light for us."

"Yes Simon. During the events in Undella Town, police learned that the Sages attempted to take over the Team so that they could bring Plasma forward out of the darkness and strive to improve Unova. However, all but three Sages were killed by the rogue experiment- Francois Zinzolin, Heinrich Bronius, Ichiri Ryoku and the new recruit Tarquin Indigo all died trying to stop their predecessor's monster. Alessandro Giallo survived untouched, and Sages Alastair Gorm and Willem Rood were seriously injured, but have both survived."

"So what happened to the Sages?" asked the anchorman.

"The court today found them not guilty of the crimes of Team Plasma; they reasoned that the Sages were figureheads, like N, to take the impact of Ghetsis' underhand operations. The court also reason that if they did act unreasonably, they did it under Ghetsis' bullying, and that their attempts to redeem Plasma, resulting in 4 of their number dying, were valiant and courageous, 'symbolic of heroes not villains'. All have been acquitted."

"There you have it folks," said the anchorman. "Delilah Maxwell in Opelucid City for us tonight. Thanks Delilah. Now, the sports news, and in the decisive match of the Baccer season, Nimbasa United..."

Aaron had leaned forward expectantly after the mention of the Baccer, but Ronnie had seized the remote and turned off the TV.

"Ohhhhh," Aaron moaned. "Not even one news report?"

"Nope," Ronnie said with a smirk.

"Dammit," said Aaron, lying back down beside his girlfriend. "But there's nothing else on TV. Now what do we do?"

They stared at the disappearing sunset, the beautiful and thought-provoking scenery, and how each others' faces were lit up by the orange evening light. It was stunning; what may be described as a romantic sunset by some.

"It's beautiful," Ronnie said, noticing it for the first time.

"Not bad," said Aaron, staring at his girlfriend's face, illuminated by an incandescent glow.

She smiled and kissed him. "It's perfect."

"Thank Looker, not me," he smiled. "He paid for the hotel."

"So romantic..." she sighed, a look suddenly on her face.

"Yes it is," said Aaron, ever the insensitive emotion-lacking teenager, noting how his girlfriend was behaving. "And? I thought you hated ultra-sappy romance?"

Ronnie's face changed, not to a smile, but to a huge grin that stretched from ear to ear. "Not tonight. How about we use this romantic moment for the best?" She kissed Aaron, and in one fluid movement had her top off beside him, pressing Looker's envelope containing his 'special' gift into Aaron's hands.

"Woah," said Aaron, still slightly reeling from how events had changed so quickly. "Are you really sure?"

"Uh-huh," said Ronnie, now peeling Aaron's clothing off of him without asking. "I knew Looker's gift would be useful." Before he could reply, she kissed him, long and tenderly on the mouth...

Things kind of escalated from there...

**(***)**

Over an hour later, Aaron and Ronnie lay side by side in the four-poster, tired and exhausted from the passionate 'activities' previously. The sunset was gone at last, replaced by an inky black sky dotted with the dazzling white pinpricks of far away stars. It was a sight to behold out of the window, especially with the bright lights of Nimbasa City far off on the horizon- the City of fun never slept, it seemed.

Aaron sat in the semi darkness, and reflected on how much his life had changed. 5 days ago, he returned home to Undella Town after 4 years, met his future girlfriend, won a battle tournament and went to a school reunion party. From then, everything went downhill- his brother awoke a failed Team Plasma experiment, which killed most of his old schoolfriends, many Pokemon, including his Marowak and Ronnie's Gengar, and several Team Plasma Sages, who weren't actually evil and were only trying to help subdue the creature (which was only achieved thanks to the timely intervention of the Legendary Genesect.

However, the moment when Aaron fired his Desert Eagle from point blank range through the creature's skull to kill it was a priceless memory he would cherish forever; the moment it finally ended. He had done it- now he was here, in an expensive hotel room he'd never have dreamed of sleeping in, lying next to a beautiful girl, the girl he loved. Perfect.

He yawned, then pulled on a dressing gown to get out of bed. Picking up his and Ronnie's Pokeballs, he sadly felt the empty one, the one that previously contained his Marowak before she was murdered by the Slendermon. Shaking himself he let out all their Pokemon- his Sceptile, Heracross, Banette, Mantine and Ampharos, along with Ronnie's Altaria, Espeon, Flygon and Excadrill. When he showed them the separate, luxury Pokemon room, they cheered, and Flygon cried the Pokemon equivalent of 'I call top bunk!', which started a stampede...

Except for Aaron's Banette. Standing in the doorway, he looked at Aaron and Ronnie, before his red eyes glowed brighter. When they stopped, his zipper grin grew wider, and he chuckled.

"What?" said Aaron.

Banette sighed, pointed at Aaron, then pointed at the sleeping Ronnie, then mimed someone thrusting their hips in sex. "Nette ban!"

"Shut up and go to bed," Aaron said wearily. He severely regretted teaching Banette Psychic now- now he couldn't keep secrets from the Ghost.

Banette smirked, before waving to him and swaggering off into the Pokemon room, presumably going to tell the others. "Ban ban."

"Goodnight to you too," Aaron said, before muttering, "bloody Ghost." He slid back into bed and, trying to ignore the noise of chaos coming from the Pokemon room (Banette had tipped Espeon out of his bed, and started a battle), drifted off to sleep...

A pity they, and almost everyone else in the Desert Resort, weren't awake. A pity the Pokemon were too busy arguing. A pity no-one bothered opening their room curtains to look out upon the moonlit desert. Not only was it a sight to behold, but someone would have noticed it. A long, large shape on the starlight horizon, rearing up before striking the ground and disappearing into the sands.

Wherever you go there are myths and legends. Wherever there are myths and legends, there are catalysts and causes. The cause of the desert's most infamous legend was out there tonight, woken from its hibernation by the sounds of the excavation diggers and drills building the expansion to the Desert Resort. With one last cry, it's elongated tail disappeared down into the dunes, and silence and peace reigned once more in the desert...

But not for long...

**A/N: Oh no Aaron and Ronnie! What have you got yourselves into this time? :)**

**Next chapter- the Relic Castle, a new friend, the truth about Damien and... a midnight murder? :O**

**Thanks for reading! Reviews are always appreciated, and until next time, adios amigos! :D**

**Sharkness**


	2. The Castle in the Sand

**A/N: Sorry I'm so late to update this folks, but here we are! Chapter 2 of Tremors! :D**

**Thanks for the support so far! I hope you all like this chapter, even if its slightly longer than my usual. Here, Aaron and Ronnie will meet a new friend, Aaron will learn something about Damien, the Relic Castle will be visited and the Death Worm will make a surprise appearance! Hope you like it! On with the show...**

The sun rose slowly in this part of the world. It crept slowly up into the sky, slinking back to take its rightful place in the heavens. Where light trickled over the horizons, it gathered in lumps, piling up against tall rock structures until it came silently crashing down into the shadows on the other side, an avalanche of golden-orange light, spreading like treacle across the barren, desolate wasteland below.

Ronnie watched from the Desert Resort, sat on a chair on the room's balcony, as the desert rose from its early morning slumber. She looked quite tired and rough, having woke early this morning, having had very little sleep the night before. In anyone else's mind, what she'd seen would be called nightmares, but for her they were memories, memories of the horrors of what happened in Undella Town. She really hadn't slept that well at all; even the comfiest, most luxurious bed in the world couldn't null the pain.

She turned, hearing footsteps behind her, and smiled as Aaron walked up behind her, kissing her cheek. "Morning Aaron," she said, as she kissed him back.

He yawned and smiled at the same time, a difficult achievement, before he noticed the bags under her eyes. "You didn't sleep..."

She shook her head. "It just won't go away. That monster..."

Aaron wrapped his arms around her in a sympathetic hug- he knew how much his girlfriend struggled with nightmares, especially one of that scale. "I know. I still remember it too. But we can't let it take over our lives. Its gone now. We're here, now, and that's what matters."

She nodded faintly, stroking his cheek, before turning back out to watch over the waking wasteland, the desolate wilderness, and he joined her. Their Pokemon, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, joined them on the balcony, and Aaron's Banette was about to play a practical joke on the two, but the others stopped him; they didn't want to spoil the moment. So people and Pokemon sat in silence, in awe of the rugged beauty of the scene before them, the golden halo of light around the sun spreading out and touching every corner of the desert as morning dawned on Unova...

**(***)**

After a large, fantastically flavoured breakfast in the lunch, Aaron and Ronnie had time to kill. Granted, they had booked themselves onto a tour of the Relic Castle, but that started at lunchtime; they had an entire morning to kill.

Ronnie tried to get into the Resort's expansive spa, the busiest amenity in the hotel, rated 5*, the best in Unova. As a result she expected it to be mobbed, and expected to not be able to book for a week; she was therefore surprised when she was scheduled in immediately, as a token from Looker. While she was being pampered, Aaron went to find a swimming pool, knowing that as Ronnie was hydrophobic he wouldn't have another chance to test the waters of the vast pool. Sceptile came too; an avid swimmer, Aaron's stalwart wanted some long-awaited practice, and wanted to get away from his team mates for a while, while they spent the day mingling with other guests' Pokemon.

In the pool, Aaron eased himself along, doing a few lengths in a slow, experimental stroke, in a sea of water chlorinated perfectly so that it remained clean whe not stinging his eyes, in a sea that would have hosted comfortably a decent-sized pod of Wailord. The blue depths were maintained at quite a mild temperature, a state of soothing tepidity that wasn't refreshingly freezing or sweat-inducingly hot. It was Goldilocks water- just right.

After a long swim, a tired Aaron paddled gently to the side of the pool, the last human left in it, and eased himself up onto it, before dropping his legs back down into the rippling water and letting it wash over them, sighing contentedly. Sceptile remained out in the pool, thrashing his way through the lengths at speed, trying to improve his physical fitness, striving for a stronger physique- he was focused on becoming better and better in battle for his master.

While Sceptile sped through the water, Aaron's mind drifted away from the Desert Resort, to the events that had led him there. The horrifying carnage of Undella Town had scarred his mind, leaving images that would never fade with time.

"Slendermon..." he murmured, a finger idly tracing along the side, drawing three long score marks, like those left by the claws of the monster on its victims. He shivered, suddenly feeling colder even though the room was hotter than the pool he'd just been in, but where the water was washing over his dangling legs he felt soothed, the pain numbed, a comfort to his tortured psyche. Looker was right- the holiday was helping the pain evaporate. Slowly.

"You look spaced out, Mr Rhodes," came a voice suddenly from behind him.

Aaron span, his thought-train suddenly derailed as he whirled in suspicion to see a lone figure stood behind the poolside bar, a glass in one hand, a drying towel in the other. "Who are... Oh, wait, its you. Damien Faraday, isn't it? Ronnie's friend?"

Damien nodded, placing the glass down gently on the side and stepping out. "That's me. Something on your mind?"

Aaron wrenched a smile onto his face as Damien crouched down beside him. "Nothing really. Just been a long week, that's all. Haven't spoken to my family properly." Aaron wasn't lying; he missed his family, and ever since returning to Unova from Sinnoh a week before, he hadn't seen his parents. He left out to Damien that was because he'd been attacked by a vicious, genetically-mutated, sociopathic monster- some things other people didn't need to know.

Damien nodded sagely, as if he understood. "Mmm, I know what you mean. I've been working in the Desert for around a year now, and haven't seen my family in six months. Its hard, going away from them." He paused, then turned to look at Aaron, smiling. "So, you and Ronnie then..."

"Yes?"

"How'd it happen?"

"Oh, we went to school together, but never really talked. Then at a school reunion we started properly talking, and things grew from there." Aaron omitted the gruesome details of what really happened after the party, and tried to keep his face blank, void of any negative emotion from remembering those days. He waved a hand dismissively. "How about you then? You seem to know her quite well.."

Damien nodded. "I've lived in Castelia City near the Desert for my entire life, and Ronnie used to too, until her mother got a job as a marine biologist in Undella, and moved her there. We used to train together, play together, share jokes and secrets, talk about Pokemon and other things. We were best friends." He then looked sad. "Then she moved."

"You trained with her?" Aaron said, looking a little surprised. "So it was your training that made her such a good battler?"

"Partially, yes, although she used to beat me easily every time, so she didn't really learn much." Damien smiled warmly. "I was there every time her Pokemon evolved. Fond memories..." He sighed.

Aaron nodded, slightly worried by the sigh, which had gone beyond nostalgic into something else. "Right. Well, I've got to go. Trip out to the Relic Castle this afternoon, you know. Sceptile!"

As Sceptile clambered out of the water to stand beside his master, Damien said "Aaron?"

"Yes?"

"You're a very lucky guy. Ronnie is a lovely girl, a fantastic friend, kind and supportive." Damien's warm smile remained, but left his eyes, which hardened into an almost aggressive look, as did his tone. "She deserves someone nice, to be treated well."

"I'll remember that," Aaron said weakly, disturbed. "Come on Sceptile." He hurried off in the direction of the changing rooms, leaving Damien alone by the pool.

The hotel worker stared out across the water for a short while, before getting up to go back behind the bar and wash some more glasses. On his way, he saw his notepad, the same one he used to take orders, left open on the side, and smiled at what he saw: a heart drawn on one sheet of paper, with the initials 'VS' and 'DF' inside...

**(***)**

After slipping back into his clothes, Aaron walked with Sceptile up to the lobby of the hotel, where he said he'd meet Ronnie after her spa treatment. His other Pokemon greeted him along the way, as did a hotel steward, who gave him a message from the manager of the Pokemon Care Club to inform him to keep his prankster Banette away from the Club. It turned out Banette had played a prank on an innocent small child, making it cry, and the child's guardian Pokemon, an angry Crawdaunt, had started attacking Banette, catching other Pokemon in the crossfire, resulting in a mass brawl. Aaron was warned therefore that Banette had been banned from the Club, and was warned to keep him away from other hotel guests or face a fine.

Scolding his Ghost-type, who didn't seem to be taking the telling-off seriously at all, Aaron was escorted to a Land Rover 4x4, the expedition vehicle, and sat down next to Ronnie, putting his Pokemon, except for Sceptile, back in their Pokeballs. "Hey Ronnie! How was your spa?"

"Hey Aaron!" Ronnie smiled, stretching out her arms as the vehicle started moving, kissing his cheek. "I feel much better now, thanks! How was your swim?"

Aaron shrugged. "Not bad. The water's good. And I had a chat with Damien."

"Oh right. Anything interesting?"

"Not really," Aaron said vaguely. "This and that, you know."

Ronnie smiled. "He's nice! I'm sure you'll like him. And I'm sureyou'll like my new friend too!"

"New friend?" Aaron asked, confused, before finally noticing the girl stood beside Ronnie. Well, notice was the wrong word- he was assaulted by a kaleidoscope of colours that turned out to be a girl. She was about 5'5", medium size, with stone grey eyes that didn't really reflect much set into a gentle face, but what drew attention was her obnoxiously bright, bubblegum-pink hair, along with her pink-rimmed glasses and the dandelion-yellow sleeveless jacket she was wearing. The Riolu sat on her shoulder noticed Aaron's double-take at the colours, and smiled.

"Hi!" the girl said brightly. "You must be Aaron! Ronnie's told me a lot about you.."

"Not too much I hope," Aaron said, grinning. "I'd like to have some secrets. And you are..?"

The girl laughed. "Luca, Luca Aree. Nice to meet you! And this is Minty," she said, patting the Riolu's head.

"...Minty," Aaron said slowly. He didn't like to nickname Pokemon, and he wasn't particularly sure what train of thought would lead a person to name a Riolu 'Minty'. "Right, okay.."

Minty chirped, "Lu!", and Luca smiled. "He says its okay to be confused by his name. Its because of his eyes."

"Wait, what?" Ronnie was confused. "His eyes?" Then she noticed the emerald green eyes the Riolu had, different to a usual Riolu's. "Oh okay.."

Aaron looked even more shocked. "Whoa whoa whoa! You understand him?!"

Luca nodded, smiling. "Its the Aura link we have. Our hearts are connected like partners, and he helps me understand what the others say, as well as himself."

"And he understood I was confused from my Aura?" Aaron said, figuring it out. "That is a smart Pokemon!" He turned to Sceptile. "I can't even understand you when you point to things you want!"

Sceptile muttered something under his breath, and Minty laughed, making Aaron paranoid. "What did he say?"

"He said Minty understands me because he has a smart master," Luca translated. "Whereas he..."

"Hey!" Aaron said, punching the laughing Sceptile on the arm. "Not fair!"

Luca tried to say something, but was interrupted by the tour guide, a youngish raven-haired woman with blue eyes, who started talking into her microphone while her Gallade was driving. "Hi folks! My name's Andrea, and I'll be your guide for today's trip! Lets have a few introductions then!"

The teens introduced themselves to her, and Andrea smiled. "Okay, nice to meet you all! Hope you're enjoying your stay! Now, the Desert here in Unova is home to a few myths and legends, to relics and treasures, to wonders that'll blow your mind. We're going to visit the main one today- the giant ruins of the lost city of the Desert, commonly known as the Relic Castle..."

Aaron sat back and listened to Andrea, who studied ancient history at Castelia University, and knew a lot about the Relic Castle (he could tell she loved talking about it- there was a passionate glimmer of proud fire in her eyes as she spoke). It was built 2500 years ago, by one of the twin heroes of Unova (the twins who controlled Zekrom and Reshiram), as both a monument to the power of their Legendary and as a safe haven for their followers. The city thrived, with temples and houses surrounding the Castle, hundreds of people living in perfect harmony with nature and Pokemon. Then the twin disappeared, as the Legendaries were sealed inside their Stones, and the city was abandoned overnight, left empty to disintegrate as the sands claimed the land, and as the desert covered the city. The test of time had taken its toll, and now only the fragile ruins of the Castle remained...

"And there it is," said Andrea, as the Land Rover slowed to a halt. "We're here, at the seat of civilisation 2500 years ago, at the site of Unova's greatest wonder of the ancient world. The Relic Castle."

Silence covered the desert as the group got out of the Land Rover and looked up at the ruins. The Castle was built from the stone of the desert, blending in with the surroundings very well- in a sandstorm, the building would have become practically invisible. Parapets and turrets were visible in places, but time had been cruel to the building, and the very pillars that held up the grand entranceway were crumbling. There was a mournful aura around the place, a sad, lonely aura- the Castle was all alone in miles of desolation, trapped in a landscape of sand and dust, left to die in the barren wastelands miles from any other city.

"Wow..." Aaron breathed, taken aback by the beauty of it all. He shouldn't have been impressed by the wreckage of a once-proud building, broken slabs of sandstone littering the floor around it where they'd broken off, but somehow there was so much more to the place. He liked it.

"You can almost imagine what it would have been like in its heyday," Ronnie murmured, picturing the bustle of an ancient civilisation, the beautiful buildings that would have once stood around it, the vibrancy and colour of the life then.

Andrea nodded as she started leading them across a dune towards the entranceway. "Its fantastic huh? Never fails to send a shiver down my spine when I see it. And yet there are some people who say its worthless, just a pile of dirt and rock..."

"How can they?" Luca said, snapping pictures on a camera. "Its stunning!"

As they approached, Sceptile looked a little confused, pointing to 4 statues that stood tall, proud and unharmed around the door. "Scep?"

"Ah, you've noticed the Darmanitan!" Andrea cried. "According to legends they are the Castle's guards, and will come awake when it is in danger to protect it, and apparently protect the deity who rules over the Desert."

"A deity?" Ronnie asked.

"Yes! According to experts, its rumoured to be one of the Dragons, Reshiram or Zekrom."

"Lenora found the Light Stone here, and then gave it to Hilbert Grey," said Aaron, remembering what his friend told him. "He has Reshiram now, doesn't he? So Reshiram must have been that deity."

Andrea shrugged. "Perhaps. But I think there's something else here too. Put it this way, I've seen mosaics that suggest there is another being that the Desert Pokemon consider a god."

They entered the hallway of the Castle, the teens still processing the information Andrea had given them. Pillars decorated in an ancient style stood everywhere, looming ominously from the shadows, while the dust of centuries gathered on the floor and on the hieroglyphs on the wall. It was eerily quiet, and a cool breeze blew from somewhere, a stark contrast to the swelteringly-hot desert.

"Here it is folks," Andrea called. "Come and have a look at these wall carvings. It gives you a timeline of what happened in the Castle."

The two girls went over immediately, along with Sceptile, whereas Aaron wasn't so eager. He wasn't a particular fan of art anyway, and he'd already heard the story of the Castle, so he decided to have a wander around. Most of the walls were occupied with hieroglyphs and detailed pictures, carvings that had survived the test of time, images from the lives of people and Pokemon 2500 years ago, but one wall was plain at first sight. Aaron walked over to it, intrigued at first as to why a wall would be left blank, but as he drew closer he spotted a single drawing in the slab of stone- a miniature, stylised sun, almost like a cartoon drawing of the sun with the billowing limbs of flame emerging from a perfect sphere.

"Interesting," he muttered to himself, poking it with a finger out of curiosity, tentatively, as if expecting something catastrophic, but nothing seemed to happen. Then he placed his hand against it...

A low grinding noise, barely audible, came from the section of wall, as Aaron's hand pushed the sun into the wall. The wall slowly shifted a little bit to the left, and Aaron peered around it, poking his head in to see what was behind it. All he could make out in the clotting, shifting depths of darkness was an ornate stone handrail; when he pulled out his Xtransceiver and used the screen light as a makeshift torch, he could only see down one level, one flight of narrow stairs. The wall was concealing a secret staircase...

Aaron ducked back into the Castle and pushed the wall back into place; as a claustrophobe, he didn't particularly want to head down a narrow, treacherous, ancient staircase in the dark. He headed back over to the others, who appeared not to have noticed him go, and asked, "Andrea, are there other levels to the Castle?"

The guide nodded. "There are two main levels that are open to us, yes. There might be others, but if there are they are buried in sand. There's a Worker down on floor 2 shifting some sand to clear the way for an archaeological expedition next month, but its a hard job." She clapped her hands as Aaron nodded. "Right, is that all? Then let's go! Its quite hot in the Desert: I expect you'll be glad of the air-conditioning when we return."

As they walked out, Minty suddenly jumped off Luca's shoulder and ran over to something excitedly.

"He's found something," Luca said, Aura-translating as they walked over to him. The Riolu had spotted, in the sand, a small black gem, obsidian, perfectly spherical, attached to a string. How he'd seen it nobody knew- finding it was like finding a needle in a haystack, but he'd done it.

"What is that?" Andrea said, puzzled, turning the gem over and over in her hands, watching how the darkness of the gem's surface seemed to twinkle as a beam of light from a hole in the ceiling shone down on it. Then she shrugged, and passed the necklace to Luca. "Nice. You keep it- have it as a souvenir, a relic from the Relic Castle. It looks beautiful."

Luca dusted the necklace off, admiring it, before tying it around her neck. "Its so nice! Wow, thank you Minty!"

The Riolu smiled, having made his mistress happy, before hopping back on her shoulder. "Rio!"

As the group walked out, Andrea turned to them. "You guys enjoy it today?" As everyone nodded, she went on, "Say, would you guys like to come out with me again tomorrow, on the Trainer's Expedition?"

"The what?" Ronnie asked.

"Trainer's Expedition. Every week we get some of the best Trainers staying at the Resort together, then go out into the Desert in search of wild Pokemon to battle. Its a great training program, but only for the strongest Trainers." Andrea grinned at them. "Think you have what it takes?"

Aaron grinned back. "You haven't seen anything as powerful as me and Ronnie in a tag team! You're on!"

"Me too!" said Luca happily. "My team will love it!"

"Then its settled. Tomorrow morning, in the lobby, and be prepared. Most knockouts wins a prize!"

Everyone laughed as they finally exited the Castle and headed back towards the Land Rover, leaving the Castle quiet and empty once again, as silence descended on the Desert...

**(***)**

That night in the restaurant, Aaron and Ronnie ate with Luca, chatting about the day they'd had, and learning a little bit more about each other. They were all looking forward to the Expedition the next day, and they all retired to their rooms early, to get their Pokemon riled up and ready, to discuss strategies for the tournament...

Elsewhere in the Desert however, darkness was closing in. The sun's last tendrils of light disappeared beyond the horizon, and bright stars shone in the perpetual gloom; none of the light pollution from Castelia or Nimbasa affected the view here. Shadows crept along the surface and over dunes, and the cries of various nocturnal Pokemon species could be heard, as the heat of the day disappeared and extreme, sub-freezing night temperatures took over the sands.

Somewhere near the middle of the Desert however the darkness was pierced by the bright-white, shining light of a large LED lamp. In that area human grunts could be heard, along with several loud crashes and clangs of metal. The cause of these noises was laden with excavation equipment and sweat, sand covering his overalls, head buried in the bonnet of a JCB excavator.

He touched a radio's transmit button. "This is Worker Mulligan. Anybody listening?"

The crackle came back instantaneously. "What is your situation, report?"

Mulligan sighed, irritated at the insistence of using official language, slamming the bonnet down. "My digger is fried. Literally, the battery has melted, and I'm unable to drive back. A lift to the Resort would be greatly appreciated; I can't walk it over dunes with all these tools."

There was a pause. "Understood Mulligan. Please hold your position, and a driver will be along as soon as possible to collect you and your equipment."

Mulligan sighed again as he put the radio down, tapping the bonnet in frustration, watching out into the Desert. It was a lonely job, his one, clearing the sand from where it had been blown onto the roads by a sandstorm, always fighting the forces of nature. There was no company, just him, and the digger, or him, and the bulldozer. Even the wild Pokemon stayed away from the big yellow machines and the big, muscly Worker...

Mulligan froze suddenly, spotting something in the gloom. He wouldn't have seen it if the LED glow of the lamp wasn't slightly illuminating the area, but as he watching the flat Desert rippled, a large chunk of sand rising up to the surface in a mound as something beneath it pushed it up.

Mulligan had never seen anything like it before- his friends talked about how in Kanto and Sinnoh burrowing Steelix and Onix made the very ground tremble as they tunnelled, but this was different. The earth didn't shake, the Desert remained silent as a graveyard, but something was underground.

"What the Hell..." Mulligan muttered, grabbing a portable LED torch and starting to set out to investigate. The mound was only 100m away, and when he reached it, Mulligan realised it was a straight line. The torch beam flickered slightly as he ran it along the length of the mound, which ran as far as the light could see, only curving as it turned towards his digger...

Suddenly Mulligan's world grew a hell of a lot brighter. Electricity erupted from somewhere and crackled in the dark, sparks flying everywhere as a large beam struck the JCB, igniting the fuel in the engine in a colossal explosion.

As large bits of twisted metal and bodywork started raining down around him, a shocked Mulligan stumbled towards his digger, a contorted corpse of blazing yellow metal. His tools were alight in their canvas bag, the silhouette of his wrench visible amidst the flames.

"What is this?" Mulligan yelled to no-one in particular, over the roar of the licking flames, but his only answer was a guttural sound, a crackling snarl where Mulligan could hear the saliva vibrating in the mouth, and he turned to face it, torch in hand...

The light illuminated a horrible image. It towered over him by many feet, a long, thin shape that emanated might and power. He'd seen many scary things before in the nights of the Unovan Desert, but the thing that terrified Mulligan most were the mandibles; huge and terrifyingly sharp, somewhere between the length of his arm and his forearm, they framed a maw brimming with thousands of small, clinically-sharp teeth that looked like they had the same cutting effect as barbed wire.

"My God..." Mulligan said, dropping the torch as he sank to his knees, helpless. A limb from the creature immediately stabbed down onto the torch and smashed it against the ground, cutting out the light as it lunged towards him, fangs bared viciously, clamping down on the Worker's yelling head and ripping it off from the spine...

Worker Mulligan wasn't the only person to die that night. There were other victims too- a security guard at the depot where all the construction gear was stored was brutally savaged, ripped apart by thousands of sharp teeth. A late-night Jogger, training for a run between Castelia and Nimbasa, was found with a gaping cavity in his chest where something had stabbed through and impaled her, driving through her ribcage like a knife through hot butter. Another Worker, this one trying to excavate a potential third entrance to the Relic Castle, was discovered in the morning, his melted corpse having been subjected to a lethal shot from a projectile of strongly acidic poison, and two contractors, driving a lorry full of cement mixers to the depot, were fried to death, their charred and mangled bodies hit by the full force of a blast of high voltage.

These 5 deaths were only a start. There would be more, soon, when the beast began to claim more revenge. This was ITS Desert, ITS territory, ITS home, and the humans would suffer, paying for their greed with their lives and their blood. They would have no idea what hit them, and the Death Worm would reign supreme...

**A/N: Hope you liked it! Luca Aree belongs to Lucama221, a very good friend of mine on here who has helped me out quite a bit! This is my thank you gift! :)**

**Next chapter- the Trainer's expedition beckons, but someone's got something to say. Will they all survive a surprise attack when they come face to face with the Desert's top predator... Kaiser? Coming soon...**

**Thanks for reading! A review is always welcome, and until next time, adios amigos! :D**

**Sharkness**


	3. Into the Wild

**A/N: Here we are folks! Chapter 3 of Tremors!** **:D as promised, on time, and as promised, this will feature Aaron and Ronnie on the Trainers Expedition, a trek into the wilderness to train Pokemon. But this is no mere walk- there's a sinister force afoot, somebody's about to learn a horrifying secret, and someone is about to come clean.. I hope you enjoy! :) On with the show.. **

Another day dawned on beautiful Unova, another day slowly beginning to throw beams of luscious golden light across the desert sands, making it shine in some places, an almost heavenly glow. Across a lot of the Desert however the morning was greeted by an entirely different thing- a cool mist that drifted serenely from the sea onto the dunes. Cold ocean air currents carrying enough rain for a potential storm had met the sweltering heat of the desert and formed a layer of refreshing fog that clung to rocks, little beads of moisture that trickled slowly down cracks, that were gulped up quickly by the Maractus that wandered the Desert.

Normally Aaron and Ronnie were early risers- often not out of choice, because a lot of the time Aaron's Banette would tip them out of bed as a joke, but generally they didn't sleep in. Today was one of those days though. The long day yesterday meant they were content to just lie in bed asleep for a little while longer. They therefore missed the sight of the dew setting on the Maractus, of the ghostly, ethereal fog drifting in from nowhere; by 8:30, the glaring sun was high in the sky, the normal heat returning, and the clouds evaporated, sinking back to where they came from without a trace.

In the end Aaron was woken by a long, green claw poking and prodding at his face, insistent, repetitive. He groaned, rolling over to get away from the poker, instead being jabbed in the side by Ronnie's elbow as he rolled over on top of her. Aaron then felt suddenly light, as if he could feel nothing.

He opened his bleary eyes, rubbing sleep out of them to be greeted by the sight of his Sceptile, standing with his arms folded. "Whu..what? Sceptile?" Then Aaron realised something else- he was hovering in midair. "Sceptile what is this?"

"Eon," came a voice from the floor, and Aaron glanced down to see Ronnie's Espeon lying on the carpet, eyes glowing as he levitated Aaron into the air with a Psychic attack. With a lazy flick of its tail, Espeon cut the energy, and Aaron fell to the floor with a loud thump- the Sun Pokemon could be evil sometimes.

"Scep tile scep," the Forest Pokemon said pointedly, tapping his wrist with a long claw as if saying 'Look at the time'.

Aaron groaned, pulling himself up off the floor and throwing an angry look at Espeon, who shrugged indifferently. He glanced over at the clock on the wall, and his heart leaped. "The Trainers Expedition! Dammit, we slept in! Ronnie!"

The yells woke up the rest of their Pokemon, who had been sleeping peacefully, and many loud groans and curses in Pokespeak were audible from the Pokemon bedroom. Ronnie too was complaining as she resurfaced from the land of dreams. "Aaron? What was that?"

"We overslept! We're going to be late for the Trainers Expedition if we don't hurry!"

Ronnie bolted wide awake, going from lying down to a stiff upright seated position without any other stages in between. "Oh God, we are! Let's hurry!"

The scenes that followed would have won them several Olympic medals for pace, and would have broken a couple of world records along the way. They had 15 minutes until they were due downstairs, and in that time every Pokemon managed to clean itself, Aaron and Ronnie both managed to have a shower, by getting in together (stop sniggering at the back), and they managed to get changed. Preparing themselves for their Expedition, they got their Bags together, sorting out plenty of Fresh Waters and Potions, storing TMs away to eliminate unnecessary weight, and put all of their Pokemon back in their Pokeballs except for Sceptile and Ronnie's stalwart, her Altaria.

Sprinting down the stairs into the lobby at breakneck speed, they were greeted by the sight of Andrea, the tour guide from the day before. Andrea looked calm and composed, casually checking a map, an Umbreon sat faithfully at her side, and looked up when the two breathless teenagers staggered to a halt beside her.

She grinned. "Sleep in did we?"

Ronnie nodded, panting from the mad dash. "Yeah. SOMEONE forgot to set the alarm."

"That wasn't my fault!" Aaron protested. "I thought we'd be up and awake by then!"

"I'd have thought you'd have been awake early," came a voice behind Andrea. "I know how badly Ronnie snores; it should have kept Aaron up at least."

Andrea's Umbreon and Sceptile sniggered as Ronnie noticed who it was. "Damien! I'm not that bad!"

"You are," Aaron and Damien chorused at the same time. Aaron sounded less cheerful than Damien though- he didn't want to spend the day with the steward, who really got on his nerves. What he'd said the day before worried Aaron.

"Morning you two," Damien said, by way of a proper greeting. "You really didn't have to worry about being that late- we're still waiting for our other Trainer."

Aaron and Ronnie sagged, as Aaron slumped down onto the floor. "Thank God. Any chance of some breakfast?"

"Here," Andrea said, passing them croissants which they devoured. "Its only little, but it'll do."

"Hey guys!" came a cheerful yell from across the corridor, and everyone looked up to see Luca waving energetically, her Riolu Minty perched on her shoulder once more. "Miss me?"

"Hey Luca," said Aaron. "Ready for today? Some strong battles?"

"Hell yeah!" the pink-haired girl said energetically, determinedly, smiling as she punched the air, Minty copying her. She was introduced to Damien, who she hadn't met, and then Andrea turned on her heel, the others following her out of the door and into a large desert-equipped Hummer...

"Hold it there, Expedition!" A voice suddenly shouted, and the group turned to see two figures walking out of the Resort towards them. One was a portly, short man with a small goatee, dressed in a well-tailored suit wearing a large Breitling watch, his blonde hair shining a little bit as the light caught flecks of grey. The man beside him was very thin and quite tall, dressed in loose clothing the same colour as the desert sands. His black hair was closely cut, with no facial hair, and two dark eyes flicked cooly from face to face. This man walked carefully, quietly, and as he walked down the stairs he was clicking the bolt back on a rather menacing-looking AK-74.

Damien nodded courteously to the portly man, the shouter. "Mr Saralorno, good morning!"

Saralorno grunted, blanking any faces and ignoring what Damien said, focusing on the man beside him. "This is the Trainer's Expedition, Mr Lynch. These are the people you'll be taking out into the desert. I hope you find it, Mr Lynch; I've paid you a lot of money to ensure the safety of the Resort." He turned on his heel, and strode off, leaving the tall man to get in the front beside Andrea, who drove off.

"Who's Saralorno?" Luca asked Damien.

"You don't know? He's the boss, the head honcho, the wealthy philanthropist millionaire behind the Resort!" He lowered his voice. "He's also Andrea's father. Its not the happiest of relationships though..."

"I can tell," Ronnie said, nodding, having noticed how Saralorno pointedly ignored his daughter being there. The back of the Hummer fell into silence.

The newcomer broke the silence. "I'm Lynch, and I'll be in charge today. You follow my orders, do what I say, and don't get yourselves into too much trouble. Comprendé?" As the group nodded uncertainly, he went on, "I hope I've got some good Trainers here..."

"We all finished highly in last year's Unova League Conference," Luca said confidently. "I'm sure we're good enough!"

"League matches don't count for anything," Lynch said bluntly, storing the AK in a holster on his back, taking out a Desert Eagle pistol to clean- the sight of the firearm brought back memories for Aaron, who shuddered.

"What?" Luca said, confused, her happy edge gone. "What do you mean?"

"Exactly what I said. League matches are comfortable; if you think some of those battles in a controlled stadium environment were tough, I'm worried." Lynch snapped the Desert Eagle shut. "Out here in the Desert there's no second chances in battle. No knockouts, no leaving your opponent with the potential to get back up, no leaving your guard down. Out here its kill or be killed. These Pokemon fight for their lives, tooth and claw, desperate. You better be prepared."

"I've not seen you round here before Mr Lynch," Andrea commented, trying to change the subject away from his ominous warnings. "Are you new staff?"

"I'm not staff. I'm a mercenary. Mr Saralorno has hired me because of a few... teething problems."

"Problems?" Aaron asked, worried.

"Haven't you seen the news at all in the past month?" Lynch said, shaking his head. "When they started building the Resort here, they encroached on the territories of two warring clans of Pokemon- the Scrafty, and the Krookodile. Both species compete with each other naturally for food and territory, and fight each other bitterly; when the Workers arrived, it became a three-way battle. Many people died, until a team of mercenaries, like me, drove the clans back into the sands."

"So what's happened now?" Ronnie asked.

"Last night, 5 people died across the Desert, killed by poison, electricity, teeth and claws, and the murderer left no trace, disappearing. That's what I'm here for, that's what we're going to do today. We're going to hunt this killer down."

Aaron watched Ronnie's face pale as Lynch mentioned the deaths at the hands of an unseen killer, and he wrapped a comforting arm around his girlfriend, knowing her nightmares would take over. "Don't worry," he whispered. "The monster is dead, remember? We aren't going to get attacked by another one..."

"So who's the suspect?" Damien asked loudly.

Lynch turned. "Ever heard of Kaiser?" When faces looked blank, he continued. "He's the top predator round here. Uniter of the Krookodile packs, former of their species clan, leader of them all. He's a Shiny, bigger and stronger than most of the others. Its our job to find and eliminate him today."

"What about the leader of the Scrafty clan?" Luca asked. "Is he dangerous?"

Lynch waved a hand dismissively. "Asbo? The Shiny Scrafty? He couldn't have done this. He doesn't have the fangs, or the Electric potential, or the brute power of Kaiser. He's more cunning and faster than Kaiser, and has a type advantage over Kaiser, but I'm adamant it wasn't him."

Andrea braked the Hummer carefully, a signal for everyone to get out, following Lynch, the stifling mid-morning heat hitting like a sledgehammer.

"Here we are," Lynch said, gesturing at the empty void of sand all around them. They couldn't see the Relic Castle or the Resort, it was so desolate. "We're in the territory of the Krookodile now. There are two places Kaiser will be at this time, and we'll split up into two teams to check each one out."

Andrea cut in. "Aaron, Luca, you're with Lynch. Ronnie, Damien, you've got my company."

Aaron was going to complain about not being with his girlfriend (and letting Damien go with her out of his sights), but didn't want to wind Lynch up. Grinning suddenly, he thought to himself 'This guy is going to be great company', and sure enough, over the Aura link, Luca and Minty picked it up, giggling.

Lynch nodded. "Sorted. We'll head to Kaiser's private cave, half a mile north. Andrea, take your two and go to the rock pedestal a mile to the west. Its mating season, so Kaiser could be in the hatching grounds."

"Aye aye," Andrea said. "We'll meet back here in 3 hours. I shall see you guys later."

Lynch just turned on his heel and strode off, Aaron and Luca jogging a little to keep up as the groups went their separate ways. Nobody spotted the shadow on top of the nearby sand dune though, or the glinting, evil eyes, or the vicious toothy smile that followed before it disappeared back into the sands...

**(***)**

After an hour trekking over dunes through sweltering heat, Aaron and Luca were glad of some shelter from the inhospitable desert conditions. They'd been battling Maractus, and a few Krokorok that had appeared to casually sniff them out, and Aaron had used all of his Pokemon to gain experience- his Heracross, Sceptile and Banette. He also learned his friend Luca had other Pokemon other than the Riolu Minty- Shadow the Luxio, Willow the Lampent, Athena the Espeon, Poseidon the Vaporeon and Oak the Scraggy had all proven themselves worthy in battle (the Scraggy's arrival had really pissed off the Krokorok though).

Aaron had also been able to use two Pokemon who he'd not had with him in Undella Town- his Ampharos and Mantine were in his PC at the time. Mantine, the team's mother figure, got some valuable battle practice, and Ampharos got a chance to prove herself against super-effective Ground types. It had been difficult, as Lynch warned, because a lot of their opponents fought dirty, 'anything goes', often not using moves, adapting a kill-or-be-killed mentality as they fought for survival against the intruders.

Lynch had no Pokemon, at all, and the enigmatic hunter interested Aaron. His eyes always seemed to dart around suspiciously, furtively, and he walked carefully, as if trying to not set off an underfoot trap. His only defences were his AK, the Desert Eagle and, Aaron learned after one fight, two large machetes. Yet when Pokemon attacked, Lynch rarely shot them or stabbed them, leaving Aaron and Luca to tackle them. To make it worse, the shade he'd led them to was the place they'd came to investigate- Kaiser's cave.

"You'd think, wouldn't you, that being a reptilian Pokemon Kaiser would prefer the heat?" Aaron asked, as they stood in the cool entranceway, the light from the harsh sun outside not penetrating far into the dingy cave.

"Cold-blooded Pokemon normally do," Lynch said without turning. "But I've never understood Kaiser. Let's see if he's home, shall we?"

As Lynch started to walk in, his AK waving from side to side, Luca turned to Aaron, looking questioning. "There's something on your mind."

"Is there?" he replied vaguely, knowing that the Riolu on her shoulder had definitely picked it up.

"You're worried about your girlfriend and Damien, aren't you?"

Even already knowing she'd know via Auralink, Aaron was astonished about how receptive her Riolu was at reading Aura and finding out emotions.

"A bit. The things he said to me yesterday were a little... creepy. Stalkerish, perhaps."

"I wouldn't worry. The way Ronnie talks about you, you're definitely the only guy for her." Luca paused. "How did you two meet up?"

Aaron's heart ached, as he remembered Undella, too late for him to prevent anything. Minty would definitely pick that up in his Aura...

Sure enough, the Riolu did, and jumped, startled, falling off Luca's shoulder in horror and shock at what he'd seen in Aaron's Aura. "Rio?!"

"Minty, what's up?" Luca asked, picking her Riolu up and dusting him off, before, shared by Aura, the full force of the horror of Aaron's hidden secret hit her like a bomb. "Holy shit!"

"That's why you shouldn't look at people's Aura without permission," Aaron said, as Luca clutched her head in pain. "Its painful enough me telling people what happened, but seeing it for your own eyes via my Aura..."

Luca regained her composure, slowly, her breathing still ragged. "You're right... I'm not going to sneak looks at Aura from now on. Some secrets are best left buried..."

"Lu.." Minty echoed, mournfully.

"You survived the wrath of the most vicious, psychotic thing I've ever heard of," Luca said, looking at Aaron with new-found respect. "You beat the Slendermon."

"And that's why Damien should leave Ronnie alone," Aaron muttered. "He doesn't know half the pain she's been through..."

Lynch, tracking back, shushed them. "We need some light in here." He put his AK down on the dusty floor, reaching into a pocket and pulling out a flare gun...

As the flare popped, the first thing Aaron saw in the red light was a devious, malicious smile, grinning right beside him. "Oh my God!"

Lynch span frantically, his AK rising so the muzzle was pointed at the intruder. "You!"

The smiler grinned, mock-bowing to him. As it moved there was a rustling noise, as its green baggy pants rubbed against the floor, and a green hood framed its neck, contrasting with the yellow skin in a barrage of multicolour brighter than Luca's hair and jacket. A yellow paw ran back to its head as it ruffled a huge orange Mohawk on top of its head, and the toothy grin grew, exposing sharp canines that glinted a pure white...

Asbo the Shiny Scrafty, leader of the Desert's Scrafty clan, nodded to them. "Scraf!"

"What are you doing here?" Lynch asked, furious. "This is Kaiser's cave!"

Asbo grinned, producing from the depths of his baggy pants a dark crystal, a typical diamond shape. He started laughing. "Craf craf!"

"That's a Dark Gem, isn't it? Kaiser's Gem, the one that makes his Dark-type attacks more powerful? And now you're stealing it?"

The Hoodlum Pokemon nodded, before turning to the rest of the cave, which had faded into darkness. "Ty..." he called.

Suddenly, from nooks and crannies all around the cave, Scrafty of all size appeared. None were shiny, like their leader, and none had as big a Mohawk as him (the larger the Mohawk, the more powerful the Scrafty), but they looked tough.

As Lynch wheeled to face the newcomers, one of the Scrafty in the shadows leapt, jumping into the air. As the muzzle of Lynch's AK rose to be pointed at the Scrafty, a High Jump Kick connected with the mercenary's face, sending him reeling, before a Zen Headbutt sent his AK spinning off into the gloom.

All carnage broke loose as a few of the Scrafty advanced on Aaron, grinning maliciously, but from the shadows Sceptile emerged with a Leaf Storm that battered Asbo's troops, sending them away. The Jump Kicks of the Scrafty started mixing with Leaf Blades, and Brick Breaks from Heracross soon entered the fray, as Lynch's blades cut through the Mohawk of one Scrafty who dared attack him...

"Stop!" Luca yelled, at the top of her voice, seething, Minty standing protectively at her feet. Surprisingly, everyone did, a Scrafty comically falling in mid air having stopped halfway through a Jump Kick, and Heracross bodily threw his attacker away.

Aaron, charging towards Asbo, turned to look at Luca. "What are you doing?"

"This isn't right!" the girl shouted. "We're not here to get Asbo and the Scrafty! We're here to find the culprit of the recent murders, and to bring Kaiser down!"

At the mention of his mortal enemy Asbo snarled, and snapped at his lackeys to retreat behind him. "Scraf!"

Luca approached the seething Shiny carefully. "We don't want a fight. We want to know where Kaiser is. These fights in the Desert have gone on for too long, and too many people have died; Kaiser must be defeated."

Asbo spat, and muttered something under his breath. "Ty ty scraf..."

Minty nodded, and started to talk quickly with Asbo, acting as a translator to Luca.

Luca turned to a stunned Lynch after a flurry of questions and answers. "He says Kaiser is in the hatching grounds, trying to produce either a future heir or more soldiers for his Sandile army, so the Scrafty came here to steal from him. He also says he is sorry he attacked you- he remembers you as part of the original hunting party, and thought you were after him."

The sulky Hoodlum quickly looked up and started protesting, as if saying he wasn't sorry he attacked Lynch. "Scraf! Ty Scrafty!"

Aaron saw the sharp look Luca shot at him, the ferocity of her gaze- the Scrafty wilted. He quickly jumped in. "Asbo, you hate Kaiser, even more than we do. You probably want to kill him more than us. Join us, come with us to the mating grounds, and we'll defeat him together."

Asbo stuck his middle finger up at Aaron, blowing a raspberry at him, which the other Hoodlums laughed at.

Luca frowned at the talking that followed. "He says he was KOed the day before by Kaiser, and he doesn't want to risk anything- apparently his wounds still hurt. That's why he didn't attack." Asbo continued talking. "He says in future though, he would team up with you if you needed to take on Kaiser. He won't attack you when you enter his territory, if you promise to help him eliminate Kaiser."

"Deal," Lynch said instantly, jumping up and offering to shake hands with Asbo. The Scrafty grinned, taking a fistbump instead, before he called his crew together behind him, and they swaggered out of the cave, disappearing off into the dunes...

Aaron and Luca left the cave, still on an energy rush from before, Lynch following.

"That was very brave, what you did," Lynch said to Luca, the most positive thing he'd ever said to her (and, in his entire life, the first time he had paid a compliment of any sort to anyone).

"Thank you," Luca replied, smiling; the mercenary didn't respond. "Where do we go now then?"

"To the hatching grounds," Lynch said, striding off in the opposite direction to where the Scrafty went. "We need to back up the others- no doubt they've found Kaiser by now."

They started out, purposefully, setting a decent pace as they tried to catch up to their team mates and finally put Kaiser out of action...

"Dammit! That bastard Asbo stole my flare gun!"

They'd have to do it without a flare gun though...

**(***)**

A mile and a half to the east of Kaiser's cave, a large rock pedestal, a large mushroom-shaped landmark, a curiously eroded tower of sandstone, cuts the horizon in two, towering imperiously above the flat lands around it. Grouped at its base are hollows in the earth, little indentations where clusters of eggs lie in the blistering sun, waiting for the moment when a little brown head cracks through the shell to be greeted by the light of their first day. This is the hatching ground of the Krookodile clan.

Andrea, Ronnie and Damien crouched behind a sand dune 500m from the grounds and peered over the top, watching the scenes unfold before them. Tubby, terracotta-skinned Krookodile waddled from nest to nest, females nuzzling eggs back in with their kin, Krokorok standing guard over tiny hatchling Sandile. Some Krookodile were busy in the act of, well, basically, increasing the number of nests needed- the smell of pheromones hung in the sky, a disgusting, sweaty reek that assaulted the sinuses.

"This is it," Andrea said. "Kaiser has to be in here somewhere."

"Or he's in the cave Aaron, Luca and Lynch went to investigate," Ronnie pointed out.

Andrea shook her head. "Nuh-uh. All this Krookodile sex, and you think the leader, the alpha male, is going to be sat on his arse in his cave out of the way, minding his own business? No chance." She peeked up over the dune again, and pulled from her jeans pocket a silenced Beretta pistol. "Listen, I'm going to try to sneak around the pedestal in a circle, to see whether Kaiser's on the other side. You two stay here, and wait until Lynch returns. Got it?" As they nodded, she scrambled away, through the sand, disappearing over a rocky outcrop.

Damien turned to Ronnie. "So, now we wait, huh?"

"I guess so.."

Damien tilted his head towards her. "Its good to see you again Ronnie, after two years. I missed you."

She smiled. "I missed you too, Damien."

"Yeah." Damien slipped his arm onto her shoulder, a sort of lying-down hug. "Good to have you back." He paused. "Ronnie..."

"Yeah?"

"I don't know how to say this, but.."

"Yeah?"

"I'm just going to be honest. I love you."

The stunned silence blanketed the Desert.

"What?"

"You heard me. I love you. I've loved you for 3 years now, ever since you brightened up my life by turning up in the Desert as my training partner. You are beautiful, kind, caring... the best a guy could hope for."

Ronnie turned, and the shock on her face was visible for miles around. "Damien, I'm with Aaron! I love him!"

"Him?" Damien scoffed, as he tightened his grip on the hug, closing it off. "What do you see in him? I'm your best friend, surely I'd be better than him..."

"Damien get off me!" Ronnie complained, wriggling, trying to get out of the vice grip he had her in.

Casually, almost nonchalantly, Damien rolled over on top of the struggling tan girl, stopping her from getting out. "I love you so much its unreal..." And with that he kissed her forcefully, on the lips, muffling her moaning and not letting go as she tried to struggle, a kneecap missing his groin by inches as she tried to fight her way out...

Suddenly Damien broke off the kiss, stopping. "Did you hear that?"

Ronnie wiped her lips clean of his saliva, ignoring him. "You are disgusting!"

"Shh," the hotel steward said, putting a finger to her lips. "Did you hear that?"

"Hear what?" Ronnie snapped, and then suddenly, she heard. The low, guttural, visceral growl, a snarl that rivalled the most primal of creatures, that convinced the hearer that their time on this earth was up.

"Oh shit," Damien moaned in realisation, as a long, wide shadow blocked out the sun. He raised his head, starting to look up, his eyes falling on solid, brown feet with three long toe claws, attached to thick, muscly brown legs that looked like tree trunks. A white periwinkle belly, padded with muscle, hung over his head, and the groin area beneath it was large, aroused by the hormones. Behind that, a long brown tail lined with light yellow stripes dangled carelessly on the dune, idly tracing a pattern- these yellow stripes continued up and around the brown body, and yellow stripes accentuated the muscles on the thick arms tipped with savage claws. A single yellow band circled the long brown snout that hung in the air above Damien, ending at its base in a yellow mask area around two little black eyes that glared down at him...

Kaiser, the Shiny Krookodile, King of the Desert, glowered down at Damien, stomping a foot down an inch from his face, and parting the lips of his snout to reveal lines of long, blood-stained fangs, snarling as he lunged forward to attack...

**A/N: Dun dun DUUUUUUNNNN! :D so the real reason behind the Expedition was to search for and kill the monstrous Krookodile, Kaiser, who the Resort believe is responsible for the deaths of five people, including Mulligan. But Kaiser has some tricks up his sleeve... I hope you all liked it! :D**

**Next chapter- Kaiser fights to retain his Crown, Aaron is furious, the Resort call off the hunt for the murderer... and the Death Worm strikes again! :O Coming soon...**

**Thanks for reading! A review is always appreciated, and until next time, adios amigos! :D**

**Sharkness**


	4. Kaiser

**A/N: Hi folks! Here we are with Chapter 4 of Tremors, a festive update to my story! :D **

**Last chapter we met Asbo, the Shiny Scrafty, and Kaiser the Shiny Krookodile, the leaders of the largest clans of Pokemon in the Desert. Damien tried to force himself on Ronnie, Luca learned about the Slendermon and we met the enigmatic hunter Lynch. However, we haven't seen that Death Worm for a while, and we don't know what Kaiser's going to do to Damien and Ronnie. Let's find out! On with the show...**

Kaiser the Shiny Krookodile snarled as he towered over Ronnie and Damien on the floor before him, exposing a row of menacing, blood-stained, razor-sharp fangs to frighten them, flexing his claws, lethal talons that could cut through even the hardest of desert rocks. At least twice the size of a normal Krookodile, he was a brute, a monster, a monstrosity that oozed lethality and strength. He was an awesome Pokemon. But not an awesome Pokemon to be trapped within the killing range of...

The summer in the desert brought very hot days that threatened to melt the glass of thermometers, brought blistering sunshine that hit travellers like a blowtorch, and the Krookodile thrived in these conditions. Cold-blooded reptiles, the extra sunlight and heat boiled their blood and made them hormonal, likely to snap and become aggressive. It also made them more passionate, igniting fires of lust in their hearts, and summer was traditionally time for Krookodile mating season.

Kaiser had been in the midst of the mating season (well, of course he had. He was leader, and was therefore expected to produce a few heirs) when he'd taken a light interval. Having spent his morning inspecting the nests and hatchlings, he was bored, itching for a fight, and had therefore taken a break to go and kill some troublesome Scraggy who'd strayed too far into Krookodile territory. The blood was still dripping from his fangs when he'd spotted the party of humans invading his territory, and he recognised the hunter, Lynch; they were out to kill. So he stalked them, watching from and hiding in the sands as he followed three of them back to the nests. They had been caught completely unawares, not knowing he was there, completely open to his attack. He had won. And now it was time to claim his reward...

As he lunged forward, fangs bared to rip their bodies limb from limb, Damien leapt back out of the range of his slashing claws, pushing Ronnie to the side as a clawed foot stamped down where her head would have been. "Ronnie move!"

Ronnie rolled to her right instantly as Kaiser's tail slammed down into the sand, but the Intimidation Pokemon moved surprisingly quickly for such a bulky, large Pokemon, and with an agile twist and flick his brutish tail smashed into her face, a loud crack of bone heard as it broke her nose.

"Ronnie!" Damien yelled, frightened for her safety, and he jumped forward off the floor, charging towards Kaiser, shouting madly as he reached for a Pokeball on his belt.

The King of the Desert simply turned with incredible speed, lashing out with a thick, muscly, chunky arm behind him that hit Damien with the force of a landslide, batting him away easily across the dunes until his head cracked against the side of a large boulder, and he slumped unconscious to the sands.

Kaiser turned, chuckling darkly as he saw what he'd done to Damien, before he roared at a trembling Ronnie, who'd released a Pokeball to no visible effect. Yet somehow Kaiser's bellowing did not alert all the other Krookodile in his vicinity; perhaps the fervour of mating season was keeping them busy enough. "Kroo ko DILE!"

Ronnie scrambled up and tried to climb up the side of the dune, but almost casually Kaiser picked her up by the collar of her T-shirt, plucking her from the floor and raising her up to eye level.

"Let me go! Help! HELP!"

Kaiser grinned maliciously again, opening his mighty jaws wide to crunch down on her head and put her out of her misery...

The ground erupted suddenly around the back of the Shiny Krookodile, as a blur rose up behind him. "Exca DRILL!"

Ronnie's Excadrill, released from its Pokeball when Kaiser was distracted with Damien, had Dug her way underground, hiding from the Krookodile, waiting for the right moment to strike and rescue her owner. Now she blasted up behind him like Venus rising from the sea, hitting the Krookodile with the full force of a Dig attack, following up with an Earthquake that threw the Shiny and Ronnie off their feet, somehow still not alerting the other Krookodile (this mating season was not something they wanted to be distracted from).

Ronnie, the nimble ex-gymnast, was up before Kaiser, and sprinted off over the sand dunes, away from Kaiser, away from the mating grounds. Excadrill and Kaiser went tooth to claw behind her, battling furiously, and both Dug their way underground in pursuit of her, but she kept running. She didn't know where she was, how to get to civilisation, or how to get back to the Resort- what she did know was that she wanted to get as far away from where she currently was as possible.

The sands flew up suddenly to her right as she ran, and she panicked, screaming, rolling herself into a ball to protect herself from Kaiser's attack. But the Krookodile wasn't Digging up to get HER- Excadrill, while Digging underground, had been attacked by him, his jaws clamping down on her in a ferocious, super effective Fire Fang, and his head had blasted up to the surface with her still trapped in his blazing jaws to throw her across the dunes, bouncing and skidding to a halt in a heap beside Ronnie, groaning in pain.

Kaiser bore down on Ronnie like an iceberg, slowly pacing forward to tower over her. Excadrill defiantly spat on the floor, and from her prone position threw a boulder at the advancing Krookodile, but it was to no avail. He simply Crunched down on the flying rock, his mighty jaws pulverising it, the fragments flying everywhere. His Focus Blast attack that followed wiped Excadrill out completely, and she slumped on the floor at Ronnie's feet.

Ronnie returned her KOed Pokemon to prevent Kaiser from completely finishing her off, scared of the murderous look in his eye, and started slowly walking backwards, still trying to get away from Kaiser. But there was sweat on her brow, and her breathing was ragged; she was tired out in this heat, dehydrated, and the will to fight and run was slowly leaving her. "Please... please... Help!"

Kaiser roared triumphantly to the blazing sun, beating his chest with his savagely muscly arms, having finally cornered and beaten his prey, having weakened his quarry and left her with no hope. Those fangs, blood stained, emerged once more; those claws, talons, weapons of death, were outstretched once more. And Kaiser leapt towards her, stretching his jaw wide as he prepared to kill the girl, who shielded her face with her arms in a feeble gesture of protection...

Kaiser's jaw clamped on thin air as he shuddered to a halt in mid-leap, his claws raking thin air weakly as he moaned suddenly, turning around to face the other direction.

"Huh?" Ronnie said, opening her eyes and removing her arm from her view to see what had stopped Kaiser. He had faltered for one reason- jutting out from his back, thrown by his assailant from behind him, was a long, razor-sharp blade. Black as sin and moonlight, it looked as powerful as a butcher's knife, and the footlong claw stuck out from Kaiser's shoulder like a spine, a reminder of a horrifying secret buried in the past, the final remains of a monster more lethal and terrifying than Kaiser...

"Leave. My. Mother. Fucking. Girlfriend. Alone," Aaron Rhodes growled threateningly, as Kaiser turned to face him. The anger on Aaron's face, the raw fury, would have terrified anything, and it made Kaiser himself tremble a little. "And don't come anywhere near the Desert Resort again! If you harm one more human I swear to God I will rip you limb from limb and leave you to the Mandibuzz..."

The Shiny Krookodile winced and grunted in pain as he reached behind him, pulling out of his back the claw of the Slendermon, the claw Aaron had thrown at him to stop him killing his girlfriend. Aaron had hidden the claw away on his person ever since those days in Undella, the last remaining fragment of the monster which nearly killed him (the International Police had incinerated the rest). He was glad he had now- it had saved Ronnie's life.

Kaiser licked his fingers clean of his own blood, flowing freely from the open gash left by the claw, and threw the claw away, skidding across the sands. He staggered forward, a little giddily, and bellowed at Aaron. "KROOKO!"

Aaron, in his state of rage, was completely unfazed by Kaiser's roar, as his Sceptile and Heracross flanked him. "Sceptile, Leaf Storm. Then Leaf Blade. Heracross, Brick Break, X-Scissor, Megahorn. Keep it going, don't stop. Finish this bastard off, and give him no mercy."

Kaiser, swaying woozily from blood loss, was given no quarter by Aaron's Pokemon, who pummelled him with unrelenting force, not letting the Krookodile fire a single move in. He was finished off quickly, finally succumbing to a powerful Close Combat attack from Heracross, and the King of the Desert, the most powerful Pokemon in all of Route 4, toppled forward slowly, a mighty towering figure falling with a thump to earth, out cold.

Aaron picked up the Slendermon claw from where Kaiser had tossed it away, and stood over the Shiny's head, preparing to stab through his brain with the claw. "Never touch my girlfriend again."

"I wouldn't do that, Aaron."

Aaron turned to look at the crest of the dune beside him, where Lynch crouched lithely, like a Persian on the hunt. "Lynch? I thought you said we were going to kill this bastard?"

"Eliminate, not kill," Lynch said, shaking his head. "We've gotten rid of the threat now. Kaiser won't come anywhere near us or any other human for fear of being attacked."

"Can't we kill him?" Ronnie asked shakily, standing beside her fuming boyfriend. "He did try to kill me."

"And he killed Andrea," came Luca's voice from behind Lynch.

The hunter turned to see the short girl staggering under the load of the unconscious Damien on her back, and the bleeding body of the tour guide in her arms. Andrea Saralorno looked peaceful in death, benign, almost heavenly- except for the vicious Bite marks through her stomach that had torn out her innards, she would have made a beautiful painting. "My God... So that's where the blood on his fangs came from."

"Seriously, Lynch, we have to kill him," Aaron urged. "He killed Andrea, for God's sake!"

"I know," the mercenary said, the slightest hint of sadness on his normally blank face. "But I can't- Stefan Saralorno hired me on the grounds that I won't kill him."

"Kaiser just killed Saralorno's daughter," Luca pointed out.

"So? It was a relationship on the rocks, and Saralorno cares more about his fortune than his child." Lynch shook his head, and went on. "Look, if Kaiser dies the Krookodile will go ballistic, and launch an all-out attack on every human, and on the Resort, to try and get revenge. If we leave him alive, there's no fallout, and we've taught the killer of the Desert a lesson."

"This doesn't feel right," Ronnie muttered. "We should be doing something at least."

Lynch nodded. "We will. Just because Saralorno said leave him alive, doesn't mean we can't give Kaiser hell, doesn't mean we can't make his life as difficult as possible." He grabbed a needle from his belt, full of a translucent liquid, and injected it into the unconscious Krookodile's bloodstream. "There. Tranquilized. That should keep him under for long enough. Help me carry him to the Hummer."

Traipsing over the sand dunes in silence, the group passed the nesting grounds, where Kaiser's clan were blissfully unaware that their leader had been beaten, and made it to the Hummer, Aaron, Sceptile, Heracross and Lynch bearing the weight of the mighty brute, Luca carrying Damien's slumped form and Andrea's corpse, a tear formed in the corner of her eye, sad at the loss of Andrea.

As Aaron helped heave Kaiser onto the roof of the Hummer, Luca finished strapping the unmoving pair into their seats and came outside. She leaned against the side of the vehicle and looked up at him. "So that's the claw of the Slendermon huh?"

Aaron nodded slowly, ignoring Lynch's questioning eyebrows. "It saved Ronnie's life. Quite ironic, since when the Slendermon lived all it tried to do was kill us with it."

Luca looked up at him. "Minty read Damien's Aura when we found him, to see if he could detect any traces of emotions about Ronnie."

"And?"

"He loved her. And he tried to force himself upon her."

Aaron shook his head, looking in the vehicle at a miserable Ronnie, still shaking from the force of Kaiser's attack. His anger eclipsed any other feelings he might have had, any sorrow at the loss of Andrea, and the look of fury returned to his face. Luca noted with worry how his fist clenched around the claw of the Slendermon, so tight it turned his flesh white and threatened to slice his hand open.

Aaron tried to shake himself. "That bastard... He doesn't know half the stuff she's been through, and doesn't know how to help her get over it."

"I know," Luca replied. "But he will know now that the only guy for her is you- he will know that you know. He won't try anything again."

Aaron nodded grimly, not really believing it, worried that Damien would try something again.

This time though Lynch cut in before he could say anything- the hunter jumped down from the roof of the Hummer, having finished tying Kaiser down, and started towards the driver's door. "Come on folks. Let's get back to the Resort. Its been a long sad day." He turned to face Aaron before he got in. "Aaron?"

"Yes?"

For the briefest of moments a slight smile flickered on the normally soulless, emotionless face of the mercenary, before disappearing like a brief, faint memory. "You've earned my respect today. I never thought I'd see the day a Trainer took down Kaiser."

Aaron merely nodded, sliding into the passenger seat as Lynch eased the Hummer off, heading back towards the Resort. The people inside sat in sorrowful, reflective silence, not talking, stunned at the death of one of their friends, as the landscape merged into one around them- it seemed to be one long sand dune, never seeming to get anywhere on the long journey home.

On one tower of sand though Aaron spotted Asbo, the Shiny Scrafty, Kaiser's mortal enemy, surrounded by his Hoodlum cronies. At the sight of the prone body on the roof Asbo's lackeys started jeering and cheering triumphantly, feeling victorious- this was a turning point in the conflict between their species and the Krookodile. The main Pokemon himself met Aaron's eye, and curtly nodded, Mohawk bobbing, a grateful smile on his face.

Aaron too smiled, briefly, before his anger at Damien set in again, and before Asbo and his crew disappeared in the sand; something had gone right that day. Aaron had beaten the King of the Desert, stopped the monster that killed all the Workers, and that had to count for something. He had won...

**(***)**

That evening, back in the Resort, the body of Andrea was delivered to the Resort infirmary/hospital wing, ready to be transported to Castelia City Pokemon Centre for an autopsy. Once out of his important meeting, Stefan Saralorno, her father, Resort owner, locked himself away in his private office, not talking to anybody else for the rest of the night.

Damien also went to Castelia, to spend the night waking up and recovering from his unconscious state, his head wounds being treated. Ronnie's Excadrill was healed and returned to her, and the shaken girl went to bed early that night. Aaron stayed up a little while longer, chatting to Luca and an old couple who had just arrived that morning with a bunch of other guests- most of the conversation though was on a sad note, remembering Andrea, and how much they'd liked her. Lynch kept to himself, writing up a mission report in the corner, not talking to anyone; however, on the way back up to the room, Aaron saw a brief scene where the mercenary laid a bunch of flowers outside the ward Andrea's body was being held in, before hurrying off looking embarrassed when he saw Aaron. Perhaps the hunter actually had some emotion...

Evening soon turned into night in the Resort, and beds called for everyone, especially after such a tiring and horrible day. But the nightmare was only just beginning for Kaiser...

The Krookodile growled sulkily, expressing his utter displeasure by slamming his mighty feet against a boulder that shattered from the kick, and continued trudging wearily over endless, infinite dunes. He really hated those humans now...

What Lynch had done to the once-King of the Desert was cruel. Cold-blooded Pokemon like him thrived in heat, and hated cold weather; Kaiser would sleep in his warm cave overnight, because the Desert got absolutely freezing (all deserts, while boiling in midday, rivalled snowy mountains for chills at night). So Lynch had tranquilised Kaiser so that he would not wake up until midnight, caught in the freezing wasteland, but that wasn't all. Lynch had also dropped Kaiser off as far away from any warm Krookodile shelter as possible, in the south east corner of the Desert- to get home Kaiser had to bear the cold on a very long walk.

Kaiser shivered, trying to stick his mighty hands in his mouth, lighting a Fire Fang; he'd prefer to burn himself than freeze like this. He had over 4 miles to cover over rough terrain, and as if that wasn't enough, Lynch had also ensured that to get home, Kaiser would have to pass through Scrafty territory- the nocturnal Hoodlums would take advantage of his feeble state and of his hatred of the cold to attack him. And they wouldn't leave him alive...

Kaiser growled, smoke from the Fire Fang billowing around his arms. Every bone ached, and the wound in his shoulder blazed in pain: while the blood had long since stopped trickling out, colouring his scales a deep crimson, the ugly scar hurt like nothing else. He needed a Sitrus Berry, fast.

Kaiser's head shot up suddenly, wide awake and alert, snapping out of his frozen slumber. The ground in front of him was ploughed up, as if forced up from beneath by some monstrous being Digging and tunnelling beneath the earth. Kaiser hadn't heard of Steelix or Onix, being a Unovan Pokemon, but still hadn't heard of anything so large that it could make a tunnel that would be visible on the surface by the trail. He was a little bit worried now.

"Krook?" he asked to nobody in particular, peering around in the gloom to try and spot anything, but his vision wasn't as developed in the dark as his Scrafty rivals.

Something shook the ground itself, loose beads of sand vibrating and leaping around him, a tremor that lightly rocked the injured Krookodile. Then a low growl was audible behind him...

With commendable speed for a large, injured, weary and frozen Pokemon, Kaiser span instantly, a Focus Blast attack rapidly formed and thrown at the creature behind him. It didn't really do anything though- the attack exploded on the armour of the Pokemon, but dissipated quickly, the opponent not feeling any pain from the powerful Fighting-type move. Kaiser felt pain though. Oh he felt pain: the attack sent little droplets of poison splattering off the armour, splashing against him, the acidic venom covering a hand and starting to actually dissolve the flesh from the bones...

As Kaiser growled in pain, the Death Worm rose from the sands to loom above the Shiny Krookodile, shrieking victoriously, having cornered him and got him at its mercy. Kaiser attempted another Focus Blast, not going down without a fight, but with only one hand to form it the attack faded quickly, and the Death Worm, in reply, sliced down with one of its horns, cutting off the dissolving arm at the shoulder.

Kaiser slumped to one knee, the once-King of the Desert fallen from high to die right here, right now. Yet the look of hatred and malice in the Krookodile's eyes never faded as he glared up into the eyes of his assailant, even when it bared row upon row of tiny, vicious looking teeth. Even as its head shot down like the wrath of the gods to remove him of his life, Kaiser never looked resigned to his fate, never looked like he would give up, even attempting a Fire Fang to block. He went down fighting.

The Death Worm shrieked again as Kaiser's blood ran down the dunes, the headless body of the Krookodile sliding down to rest in an oasis at the foot of the dune. Slowly, deliberately, it spat out the head of its defeated enemy, the poison in its mouth already starting to melt the flesh from the skull, before it sank back into the sand once more, disappearing without a trace, the hidden assassin. The Desert's 'top hunter' had been killed by the Desert's most legendary predator, and now that predator would have no rival, no opposition as it bulldozed its way through its home, killing everywhere it went. The Death Worm may have been temporarily dethroned by Kaiser, but in the Desert it would always reign supreme...

**A/N: Mwahaha! Kaiser's reign is no more! There's only one top predator, only one King of the Desert, and that's the Death Worm! :) incidentally, the 'Guess the Death Worm' competition is still open. First person to PM me what the Death Worm is wins an OC in my next story, or possibly even a oneshot request. I'm feeling generous :)**

**Next chapter- the aftermath of hunting Kaiser, and Saralorno reveals a nasty side. Plus, Aaron confronts Damien, an escape plan is prepared, and... THE DEATH WORM ATTACKS! :O coming soon...**

**I hope you all have a merry Christmas! :D Thanks for reading, a review is always appreciated, and until next time, cheerio! :D**

**Sharkness**


	5. Evacuation

**A/N: Woohoo! Finally, a little bit later than intended, but Chapter 5 is up! :D My first update on this story of 2013! Now that sounds cool...**

**It all starts to kick off in this chapter; after the death of Kaiser the Shiny Krookodile, the Desert Resort is on red alert, but that Worm has ideas about how to kill the Resort guests, including Aaron and Ronnie. Let's see what's up in the Desert sands then, shall we? On with the show...**

The morning in the Desert brought back the harsh glare of the sun from the day before, a boiling heat like a wall, the tips of the dunes shimmering in a sweltering mirage. The fog of the day before had lifted, disappeared without a trace, but here and there across the otherwise barren surface, in the hollows between hills of sand, were puddles, remnants of a violent rainstorm that night, a storm that enveloped the whole of Unova in its clouds, a storm that had poured an almighty deluge down. Rocks dripped water like sweat, and oases filled up again, after a long arid spell that had transformed them into dustbowls. Rain in the Desert was the weirdest sight in the world, and it fascinated people as they got up, but otherwise it was just a normal day.

As the omnipresent sun set the sands ablaze, the landscape awash with heat, the people of the Desert Resort rose in cool and unaware bliss, comfortable in their rooms with the air conditioning working overtime. People sat in rooms and watched television, ordering breakfast from room service, content to stay put and relax, unwinding in the hotel- even the Pokemon weren't getting up, not even the more aggressive ones raring for a battle and some training (i.e. Aaron's Banette and Heracross). It was a lazy day.

Aaron knew that he wouldn't be the only one not content to hang about doing nothing. Normally he wouldn't have minded the rest, especially after the fight with Kaiser the day before, but his early-riser instinct had kicked in, and now he was awake he needed something to occupy himself with. His brain was always busy, never stopping...

His Xtransceiver bleeped, a message from Ronnie: 'Just woke up, getting ready. I'll wake our lazy Pokemon up, shall I? :) xx'. Aaron sighed at the 'getting ready' part, reading the message as he walked through the corridors; that meant Ronnie would be ready in half an hour. Half an hour of boredom... No, wait...

Aaron heard a barely-audible thumping sound, coming from behind one door, the door to the gymnasium. He smiled as he peered through the window, recognising the person making the noise, and walked into the gym, sitting down on the seat of a rowing machine. "Thank God, I'm not the only one awake. And it isn't even early morning..."

Luca Aree, sweat forming on her brow, threw one last solid punch at the punch bag, sending it rocking, before Minty the Riolu Force Palmed it so hard it came off its hook, chain rattling as it flew across the gym. "Morning Aaron!"

He smiled, picking up a water bottle off the floor and offering it to her. "Drink?"

She sagged, throwing off the boxing gloves wearily and throwing herself down on the floor beside Aaron, draining half of the bottle. "Thanks!" She held up another pair of gloves. "You want a go? You don't have to use my sweaty gloves..."

Aaron shook his head, as he didn't like boxing, and changed the subject. "You know, a 5'5", petite girl with bubblegum-pink hair isn't exactly the typical image of a powerful boxer." Then he remembered the day before. "I meant to ask, how are you capable of carrying two limp people in a desert without breaking sweat? Ronnie and I couldn't carry one of them! You must be strong.."

Luca put the now-empty bottle down carefully. "Well, being an expert in 6 different forms of martial arts helps- I could class myself as a Black Belt Trainer if I wanted. What also helps is being trained as a boxer. I've trained myself a lot physically, and I reckon I could at least beat a Machop at an arm wrestle." Her normal happy face hardened a little. "I've had to train myself..."

"Why?" Aaron asked, and then, remembering the day before. "You weren't fazed by the sight of Andrea's gutless corpse, were you? You willingly carried a dead body. You're like me- you've seen death before..."

Luca nodded slightly. "Well, I know your horrible secret, so I guess you should know mine.." She took a deep breath. "Remember how Team Galactic nearly took over Sinnoh?"

"I remember. I arrived there the day after they were beaten. Go on..."

"I got caught up in the big fight. So many Trainers died, so many Pokemon, for their evil aims. I was having a family meal when Commander Mars led a unit into rhe restaurant, killed my brother, and stole Minty and my other Pokemon from me." She swallowed. "I went almost mad trying to rescue them! I turned into some kind of monster fixated on getting revenge by beating them myself, and when I finally freed my Pokemon, I looked back and saw what I'd done. 16 Grunts dead, all for Minty... So I fled to Unova, to get away from that past. And here I am."

"I don't think anyone would blame you for trying to save your Pokemon from a nefarious organisation and killing a few of their members," Aaron said evenly. "Anyone I know would do the same."

"You... you mean what I did was..."

"Alright? No, it wasn't. But it was necessary." Aaron smiled humourlessly. "Besides, my little brother can go one better than you. He's technically responsible for the deaths of fifty Team Plasma Grunts, 4 Sages, 14 teenagers and around 40 Pokemon."

"And that's supposed to make me feel better, even though his was an accident?" Luca asked sarcastically. "What're you going to say next, Hakuna Matata?"

"I won't say it. But take lessons from it. Put it behind you; what necessary things Luca Aree did in the war against evil in Sinnoh should not affect what Luca Aree does now."

She nodded, but before she could say anything a familiar head popped around the door, and she froze. "Damien?"

The hotel steward, looking very embarrassed as Aaron glared at him, gulped. "Uh yeah, Lynch sent me to find you. Mr Saralorno wants to see you two and Ronnie in a meeting with the Board up in his office."

Luca nodded. "Okay, we'll go. Aaron?"

Aaron snapped out of it. "Yep, sure. Let's roll by my room first, get my GIRLFRIEND to come with us."

Damien stood aside to let Aaron and Luca out of the gym, but as Luca walked off and Aaron started to move out, Aaron span to confront Damien. He advanced slowly, a furious look in his eyes, reaching slowly for the claw of the Slendermon in his trenchcoat pocket as he prepared to punch Damien...

"Aaron!" Damien yelped, quite scared, a pleading edge to his voice as he backed up against the wall. "Aaron, I'm sorry, please, Aaron!"

Aaron took a deep breath, trying to control his boiling blood, and eventually stepped back. "You are disgusting. You don't know half the stuff she's been through, and don't deserve a brave girl like her. I won't touch you this time, but ANYTHING else, and I will make you scream with pain, although it'll be far less agonising that some of the things she's experienced. Understood?"

Damien nodded weakly, and scarpered out of sight, as Aaron pulled his hand out of his trenchcoat... to reveal his Xtransceiver. Angry as he was, he wouldn't have pulled out the Slendermon claw on a human, even Damien, and Aaron breathed out heavily before he started to climb the stairs. "You lead the way Luca. I'll text Ronnie. Get her to come and see what Saralorno wants with us..."

**(***)**

Stefan Saralorno's office was nothing short of magnificent, as was to be expected from one of Unova's richest businessmen, from the Resort's owner. Expansive and spacious, there was a very long glass table down the middle, and at the opposite end to the door sat a large mahogany desk, so that the person sat at the desk could look up as the door opened and look down the glass table at the arriving person. A few bookcases hung on the walls, as did a copy of Winslow Homer's 'Gulf Stream', a painting depicting man's struggles against the forces of nature; the other wall was occupied by a huge glass window that looked out across the dunes to the rock pedestal where the Krookodile mating grounds were situated, and looked along the main access road to the Resort.

Sat at the glass table when Aaron and Luca arrived from the gym were some familiar faces, and some not so familiar. Aaron slid into one of the chairs beside Ronnie, giving his girlfriend a quick kiss as Luca plonked herself down on Ronnie's other side. A few other guests were sat with them, at the end of the table nearest the door- Aaron recognised Mr and Mrs Bartlett, the old couple from the day before, and he gave a slight nod to Lynch, sat uncomfortably opposite with a very large suitcase on the table in front of him. The other end was taken up by old and middle-aged men and women in expensive suits, no doubt the Board members of the Resort, and Saralorno sat at his desk at the very head of the table; Aaron felt very underdressed, in jeans and a T-shirt around all these suits.

Saralorno shook his head impatiently at their arrival. "You took your sweet time. Perhaps we can get on with this meeting now..."

"Of course, your Honour," muttered Ronnie, and Mr Bartlett tried not to snigger.

One of the younger, female Board members, identified by her badge as Miss Cutler, stood up. "Yes indeed. We call this meeting today because we are finding the situation with the Resort.. a little tricky, and we wish to inform you all of what is happening."

Saralorno nodded. "The night before last, 5 people, 4 Workers and a member of the public, were killed, in a variety of manners. Poison, electricity, teeth and sheer body weight were the methods of the killer- it was obvious we were dealing with a vicious Pokemon."

"So we took appropriate steps," Mr White, another Board member, said. "We enlisted a mercenary to take action, and he outlined a potential culprit. An expedition was led, and the creature was dealt with."

"Oh really?" Lynch said cooly. "I outlined the culprit, did I? Was I not paid to go after a certain Pokemon and that Pokemon only, even though I believed he might not have been the culprit? Was I not ordered to NOT kill the offending Pokemon, to leave him? I believe that is the case."

Mr White turned to Saralorno. "You ordered him not to kill it?"

"Well, to be fair to him," Miss Cutler intervened, "killing Kaiser, one of the Desert's most powerful Pokemon, would severely provoke the Krookodile clan that he leads. It would have been a wise move to intimidate him instead, so he would not trouble us."

Saralorno snapped his fingers. "Which is what I ordered, Lynch! Only your warning didn't do anything to prevent him attacking again, did it?"

"4 more people died last night," Mr Harajuku, from the Board, said quietly. "The same ways the others died. The killer returned."

Saralorno pointed an accusing finger at Lynch and the other expedition members. "You didn't do your job! That creature, Kaiser, came back, and he is endangering more lives in the Resort! And you won't have another chance as good as you did to attack him!"

"Are we... are we evacuating?" Mrs Bartlett piped up timidly.

"No, madam, more mercenaries are on their way in to protect us and hunt it down, but the Resort will remain fully operational. And we WILL get this situation under control."

"No you won't."

Silence fell in the office.

Saralorno casually flicked a paper ball into his bin. "Mr Lynch, I am intrigued as to why you persist in undermining us."

Lynch ignored him. "You won't get this situation under control." He snapped open the lid of his suitcase and displayed the contents to the world. There was a scream from Mrs Bartlett and a whimper from Ronnie as they saw what was in the case- a very large Krookodile skull, skin and flesh burned off in many places by acid, or torn by razor sharp teeth in other places.

"My God..." Aaron breathed, stunned. "That's Kaiser!"

"Killed by the same hands that killed all those other people," Luca said.

Lynch nodded. "Saralorno, you won't get this situation under control... because we're dealing with a monstrosity far more terrifying than Kaiser. And you can't stop something that kills him."

Ronnie went pale at this point, and Aaron wrapped an arm round her, trying to comfort her mind as she thought of what evil could do such a thing, while five words circled in his mind- 'Why is it always us...'

Mr Harajuku looked pale. "What... what could do this?"

"I have no idea," Lynch answered, simply.

Saralorno struck out for something as an answer. "Well, get an idea then! I'm paying you to hunt down the creature who did this, and you should bloody well be doing your duty!"

"Correction, paid," the mercenary said, snapping the suitcase shut. "You insisted on paying me to take care of the problem of KAISER. Not the ACTUAL culprit. Now that Kaiser is dead, there is no more reason for me to stay here any longer. I have my pay, and my trophy," he patted the suitcase where Kaiser's skull was stored, "and now it's time to get out of here before that monster does anything."

"Mr Lynch, we order you..." Mr White began.

"You can stick your orders up your arse, White. Something vicious is endangering these people's lives, and killing it is not my problem. However, I am not inhuman, and I will not leave people to be hunted down without at least attempting to save some lives." Lynch slid back the bolt on his AK-74, loading it. "Anybody who wishes to stay here and take their chance with a killer, you're welcome. But I will be leading a convoy of 4x4s for an evacuation out of here, to head to Castelia City, and I would advise you all to collect your belongings and meet in the lobby in 15 minutes, or else risk death."

"You will do no such thing!" Saralorno shouted, eyes glistening with hatred. "The creature appears to be nocturnal, so there is no danger today. We shall sit tight, and wait for the protection to arrive. We are in no danger."

"No danger?!" Ronnie yelled. "You tell us there's a murderous monster Pokemon on the loose and then say there's no danger?"

Lynch shook his head. "You truly are a disgusting individual, Saralorno. You felt no sadness when your own daughter was ripped apart by Kaiser, and now you are condemning innocent hotel guests to their deaths. And for what? To save a few lousy bucks for your Resort, no doubt."

"My daughter meant nothing to me," the Resort boss sneered. "I never wanted her. Her mother just wouldn't abort the pregnancy. And then I ended up with a rebellious, unintelligent, impolite heir who I couldn't get rid of."

Luca looked stunned. "Andrea was anything but that! Now I'm wondering who the real monster of the Desert is..."

Mr Harajuku butted in. "Whatever you say, Mr Saralorno has our full backing on this." Miss Cutler looked slightly uncomfortable.

"I forbid you all from leaving the Resort," Saralorno began. "Especially not with this fool. I have no idea, why I hired you, when you have such a dubious background..."

Lynch span with the agility and speed of a Skarmory, and two throwing knives emerged from the mercenary's hands, burying themselves in the wall behind Saralorno, a centimetre from going through his shoulders. "Don't EVER fucking DARE to talk to me about my past! I have changed since then! And you don't order us, Saralorno. We do not live to pay money, we live to survive. And to do that, we're leaving. Come on people..."

Half of the room backed out warily with the furious Lynch, as Saralorno raged and ranted at his desk. Aaron and Ronnie were among the last to leave, along with Luca, the Bartletts and, surprisingly, Miss Cutler from the Board. The look on Saralorno's face was terrifying, and only if he frothed at the mouth could it have looked more insane.

"You heard me," Lynch said, still looking angry. "Get whatever belongings you need, then let's leave. The sooner, the better..."

**(***)**

After 20 minutes of hurrying around and packing cases, it appeared that half of the Resort held the view that it was better to play it safe and get the Hell out of the Desert as soon as possible. From the top floor, Saralorno glowered at people sullenly, but said nothing, even as the mercenary commandeered half of the Resort's expensive fleet of 4x4s for the escape convoy.

The long line of vehicles snaked for a quarter of a kilometre as it left the Resort, around 50 people, their Pokemon and their luggage all bundled into the vehicles to evacuate. Lynch had volunteered to lead the convoy, but Miss Cutler, who often journeyed this route across the Desert from Castelia to Nimbada, took charge at the front- Lynch ended up driving in the exact middle, with the Bartletts in the car behind, a family from Icirrus City bringing up the rear. In with him were Aaron and Ronnie, Luca, Aaron's Sceptile, and Damien; the arrival of the hotel steward wanting to evacuate had caused a lot of glaring and embarrassed, apologetic looks from Damien, but, oblivious to what Damien had done, Lynch let him in with them, much to Ronnie's distaste in particular.

Luca coughed gently to break the awkward silence. "Sorry for asking the dreaded question, but how long until we're there? I am BURSTING for the toilet!"

Lynch didn't smile or turn from the driver's seat, twisting the wheel to avoid a large boulder. "15 minutes at most." He paused. "You know, I still can't believe Stefan Saralorno actually tried to stop people fleeing for their lives. It's sickening how people like that get to the top in life."

"So why did you ever accept being hired by him?" Damien asked, but this was ignored. "And why did he talk about your past?"

That wasn't ignored. With lightning reflexes Lynch span, his Desert Eagle suddenly in hand, and shot the cushion of Damien's seat of the Hummer, millimetres from his groin. "Kid, do you want to walk? Out there, with that killer on the loose?" He swerved the wheel, and the Hummer went bouncing over a dune. "Word of advice- don't piss off the guy saving your ass."

Aaron, sat in the passenger seat, allowed himself a little smile, before glancing up into the rear view mirror. That smile evaporated. "Oh shit! Lynch!"

The mercenary's eyes darted up to the mirror, and everyone else's heads turned around to look behind them at what Aaron had spotted. When they'd set out, there had been exactly 8 cars behind them; now, there were two, the Bartletts and another car. Most of the others had disappeared completely, but the remains of two of them were clearly visible- one Hummer had huge bite marks out of the bonnet, missing the entire engine, and had then been crushed by an incredibly heavy weight (Aaron noticed with a sick stomach that there were broken, bloody limbs jutting out of the sides of the Hummer). The other was alight, completely engulfed by a billowing inferno that had turned the Jeep into a mere skeleton, filled with ash.

"Oh my God!" Luca yelled, then her head snapped forward, as Minty, already looking forward, cried out, an Aura premonition. "Lynch, look out! There!"

Lynch turned back to look forward as he drove, and caught the next horror show. Miss Cutler was driving Andrea's Land Rover out in front, and suddenly the sands around the car seemed to boil, a large furrow pushed up in the earth as something tunnelled through, rapidly burrowing, converging on the convoy. Then the dunes erupted outwards, a fierce, long, thick shape powering up to throw the Land Rover into the air like a feather in a breeze. Mid air, the assailant spat, a thick blob of poison sailing through the air bang on target. As it covered the flying car, there was a loud sizzling noise, and instantly the car started to dissolve and come apart in mid-flight, metal corroding, rusting and falling apart from the sheer acidity of the attack.

"What the Hell is that?" Damien cried, scrambling backwards in his seat as Lynch threw on the brakes, but the creature hadn't finished yet: as the convoy screeched to a halt or tried to frantically get away from it, it locked its long horns underneath the chassis of one Hummer and flipped it up into the air, before rearing into the air and dropping down onto the falling car, crushing it with a triumphant shriek. A Thunderbolt attack then flared up, striking the unfortunate wreckage with a colossal boom and a bright explosion.

Lynch pulled back the bolt on his AK-74, unwinding his window to poke it out. "I guess that's the monster that killed Kaiser then... So much for escape..."

The monster that stood before the fragmented, frightened convoy reared once again, roaring to the blazing sun as it towered above them all. The true King of the Desert had returned to fight them all and kill the intruders, and it was a truly terrifying sight to behold. Aaron had never seen anything like it before, but deep in the back of his mind something stirred wearily, awoken by the horror of the moment, by the horror of the sight of the vicious, murderous beast.

'Oh no,' he thought. 'Here we go again...'

**A/N: And I'm... NOT unmasking the Death Worm! I'm so cruel :D You guys have one more chapter to guess what Pokemon it is, and PM me. Remember, winner gets an OC in my next fic! :) but now things are getting serious! The Worm has made itself known, and now Aaron and Ronnie will be fighting for their lives... again...**

**Next chapter: A frantic dash for safety, discovery about the Death Worm, distractions for the Death Worm, fire, death, senseless killing, the murder of a main character AND... I REVEAL THE DEATH WORM'S IDENTITY! :O I for one cannot wait! Coming soon... **

**Thanks for reading! A review is always appreciated, and until next time, adios amigos! :D**

**Sharkness**


	6. The Sacrifice

**A/N: Woohoo! Chapter 6! :D a tad later than promised, but not too far off. Sorry about the minor delay, my laptop died on me :(**

**Anyway, last chapter the vicious Death Worm made itself known to Aaron, Ronnie and co, and now... Now I think it wants to kill them :) so here is the chapter where we finally learn the identity of the Death Worm, which nobody guessed :O And we get a nice introduction of a familiar face too! On with the show!**

Time seemed to slow and pause in the Desert, a mere fraction of a moment becoming in an instant a lifetime. A low breeze blowing inland from the ocean swept through, a faint whisper, stirring loose sand particles beneath feet and sending the sand twirling in an elegant dance. The stillness was stunning, and yet it shouldn't have even existed- there was no way after such ferocious, furious, fast-arriving destruction that the Desert should have been calm. Especially not with the monster...

Aaron looked out of the window of the Hummer with mounting horror at the sight of the creature, his dream of a peaceful and relaxing holiday shattered by the arrival of this monstrosity, this nightmarish being.

"Twice... twice in one week. Would you believe it?" he muttered exasperatedly, asking nobody in particular, not taking his eyes off the monster. "So we beat the Slendermon, and try to put it behind us, and yet here comes another monster!"

Ronnie looked pale and terrified. "Why does this only happen to us?"

As Aaron turned around to comfort her, Lynch turned too, eyebrows raised. "You mean this has happened to you two before?"

Luca nodded. "You know the Team Plasma experiment released in Undella Town, the one that killed over 50 Grunts and 4 Team Plasma Sages? They survived it."

"My God," Lynch said, shaking his head. "I've seen photos of what that thing did from the press. And you came out here to relax, to get away from it, to put the terrible memories to rest, and you got this."

"Another bloody monster," Aaron moaned bitterly, cradling Ronnie's head, his fingers travelling to his Pokeballs. "Just great..."

"What are they doing?" Damien asked, his voice hollow, pointing to the crowd of people from the convoy. His voice was shaky, and he sounded very scared- gone was the unfazed smile he normally bore, vanquished by fear and worry.

Aaron craned his head to look out of the window, across the dunes that shone under the harsh glare of the Unovan sun, looking out to see what Damien had spotted- the convoy had been halved in size by the monster, and what remained of it had split, two different decisions made by two different groups. Perhaps the more intelligent group had decided to run as far away from the beast as was humanly possible, a train of 4x4s dashing madly into the distance in the hope that they might survive; however, even as they fled the creature went on the offensive, launching a great glob of poison at the last vehicle, screeching in maniacal delight as the attack sizzled through the metal body and through the inhabitants of the vehicle. But for some reason a gathering of Resort staff had remained behind with some tourists, and they were actually attempting to attack the monster. Pokemon were out, and the creature's body lit up as moves flared around it.

As it was distracted with its assailants, Aaron got his first good, proper look at the creature. Without beating around the bush, if you got to the plain, simple heart of the matter, it was a Scolipede, a Unovan native. It was, physically, very similar to a normal member of its species; two long, slightly curved horns stuck out of its head above yellow eyes that emanated fierceness, and intersecting purple and magenta rings ran down its armoured body all the way to its tail, where twin spiked tails jutted out of the viciously-spiked armour. Four pairs of forelegs, dangling in mid-air as the creature reared, were tipped with short, yet sharp claws, capable of injecting victims with a lethal dose of poison, and it supported its weight on four thick hindlegs that remained firmly planted into the ground while the long, snaking front of the monster loomed high above.

Normally, the Bug/Poison type Megapede Pokemon lived in forest habitats, with plenty of damp and dark places from which to hunt its prey- to see one in the arid Desert, surrounded by harsh dunes and poor hunting grounds, was not typical of a Scolipede. This wasn't the only thing though that differed from the norm. For starters, the main and obvious detail was the size of the thing. Scolipede normally dwarfed humans anyway, with a rearing height of 8ft and a length of approximately 15ft, but this one towered high above everything in the landscape; Aaron guessed it as roughly 30ft tall, with a twisting body which stretched for the best part of 60ft. It was massive, compared to any other Pokemon he had seen, and that was only the start.

The armour on a Scolipede normally exposed its belly, its Achilles heel, exploited often by potential prey, yet the monster before Aaron was encased in thick, ridged plates that oozed a purplish Poison slime. This slime seemed to seep from every pore, gathering in droplets on the foreclaws, dripping from the viciously barbed, thick tails. The horns themselves were impressive blades, at least 3ft long and curved like a scimitar, a magenta sheen to them where its venom gathered, but the face was the thing which set this creature apart from anything else. First, there were 6 beady yellow eyes, the same size as the eyes on a Scolipede- it seemed that rather than scale up the eyes, the monster had simply grown more to compensate for the poor vision- but then came the mouth, where around 6 rows of long, thin fangs stretched out of the gaping maw, serrated edges glimmering with Poison as the creature growled at the humans with a grin that could puncture through a man and rip him apart like a rag doll.

Damien looked stunned. "I have never seen anything like that in my entire life. I never will again."

"No, you won't," Lynch said, wrenching the Hummer into gear, "if you stay here, because if you stay here your life expectancy becomes… ooh, 3 minutes?"

"Wait!" Luca cried. "There are people down there fighting it! They're trying to save some injured people!"

Sure enough they were- a couple of mangled bodies of people and Pokemon lay at the feet of the beast, clearly dead, but trapped in a crumpled Land Rover Aaron could see an arm, feebly waving as it hung out of the window. Screams could be heard from the vicinity, along with the cries of Pokemon, but they were drowned out by the screeching, piercing cry of the monster- even that gave Aaron a heart attack, and he tightened his grip so hard on the claw of the Slendermon resting in his trenchcoat pocket that the claw's sharp blade edge cut through his palm.

"Yep, I see them," the mercenary said, nodding while he surveyed the

scene through a monocular. "And your point is…?"

"What are you, a monster?" Damien snapped, losing the hoarse edge to his voice suddenly. "Are you just going to leave those people to die?"

"Are you gonna let us die, staying here?" Lynch shot back, spinning the wheel of the Hummer. "These guys will tell you, the best way to survive when a monster attacks is to run away as fast as you can. Isn't that right?"

Aaron nodded. "Best plan is to avoid any fight until you really have to."

"But those people are going to die!" Luca yelled. "We have to do something! There are CHILDREN there!"

"She's right," Ronnie said suddenly, stirring in Aaron's arms. "We can't leave kids to their deaths. I know, we have to run, and not get ourselves killed being stupid, but... I can't willingly run like this. Not when we could help some other people escape and survive."

Aaron sighed, tormented by uncertainty. Ronnie was right though; there were people they knew there, people whose only chance of salvation lay with them. To abandon them to their doom would be a horrific choice. "Go get them Lynch."

"You're all nuts," the mercenary muttered, but he span the wheel of the Hummer back around, and floored the accelerator, the vehicle bouncing over the soft ground as it charged towards the monster Scolipede. Aaron was stunned- the man actually had a conscience. Running was no longer an option for him, no longer taking the coward's way out. He was going to save some lives...

Lynch slammed down on the handbrake lever as the big 4x4 crested a dune, making it slide down the other side in a graceful pirouette that threw up loose sand in a thick, choking cloud of cover. The mercenary kicked the door open as the vehicle was still moving, rolling out and throwing himself into a prone position on the ground, sighting down the barrel of his AK, and Aaron and the others jumped out, as the crackle of gunfire started...

The group of around 20 people, mixed Resort staff and guests, had dwindled in size rapidly since starting to fight the creature to save their injured friends. Therefore, as people saw the vehicle, saw Ronnie's waving arms, heard Damien's yelling, they started to retreat rapidly from around the creature, sprinting desperately for the safety of the Hummer that provided them with new hope for survival. Of the group of 14 fully fit survivors however, around 4 were picked off by the beast as they ran, the colossal jaws swooping down from on high, the body coiling like a whip as it snatched up people into the air and crunched down on their bones.

As one injured man was dragged bodily across the dunes and thrown in the Hummer's boot, blood pouring from the stump of his left leg and leaving a trail in the sand, Minty the Riolu, perched on Luca's shoulder, noticed sand particles still swirling ferociously in the air, even though the dust cloud thrown up by the Hummer had evaporated, and looked worried. "Ri-oo..."

"Oh no," Luca breathed. "Sandstorm!"

Lynch slid back a bolt on the AK as he reloaded. "Never mind that! Huge Scolipede creature in front of you! Remember?"

Luca looked up, and swore, rolling out of the way rapidly as the Scolipede thing spat another ball of corrosive venom from its mouth, a boulder beside her starting to shrivel and sizzle as the creature turned to another escapee, cutting short their plans by using its horns to carve their body in half. "How poisonous is it?!"

Aaron noticed once more the Poison that seemed to seep from every pore, covering the armour in slime as a defence mechanism. Lynch's bullets didn't penetrate its thick hide at all, and sent up little explosions of acid from its exterior, a purple rain threatening to further hurt those lying injured at its feet. "It's not working... Lynch!"

"I know!" he shouted. "There's still three survivors and a casualty though!"

However, as Aaron turned to look at the survivors, it appeared that three survivors was about to become two. Mr and Mrs Bartlett, slow in their old age, were hobbling across the sands as fast as they could, but it wasn't enough to save them. The gargantuan Scolipede's six eyes flashed to them, noticing them escape as the people who were around it attacking it fled, and it let out a vicious, raging scream, not willing to let them escape its wrath. The long body swayed as it reared up, buffeted by the worsening winds that blew miniature sand twisters around its feet, before the head jerked down in one long movement, crashing down with a noise like a clicking Maractus as its armour jolted, as it opened its maw wide and bit six sets of teeth through Mrs Bartlett's leg...

"No!" Aaron roared. "Sceptile! Get it!"

Aaron's stalwart Pokemon understood totally, leaping from beside his master into mid air. Three eyes of the monster glared at the intruder with a malevolent fury, but Sceptile was not intimidated, and fired a Leaf Storm at point-blank range into its snout.

Shrieking angrily, the creature reared back in pain, and Aaron let out a whoop of glee- this one could be hurt easily! But then his face turned horrified, as the rescued Bartletts hobbled towards him, Mr Bartlett supporting his wife- her right leg, bitten off by the monster, had gone...

Mr Bartlett saw his face as he lifted his wife into the Hummer's boot, Damien sat in the boot helping. "No, don't worry boy! Ellie's fine! She's had a fake metal leg for over 5 years!" He cackled. "And I hope that bastard chokes on it!"

Slightly relieved, Aaron turned to witness something heart-stopping. The creature, spitting leaves in its acidic saliva, reared up to its full and tremendous height with an almighty wailing scream that shook the very earth. Steadying itself against the sandstorm erupting around it, it twisted itself through the worst of another Leaf Storm from Sceptile, before the armour it wore crackled with sparks, an electrical Discharge attack sizzling through the air to earth itself in the ground by Sceptile's feet. Aaron's Pokemon dodged most of it, but one stray bolt of energy hit him in the ribs, and Aaron did not expect to see his Pokemon get knocked out, not by a mishit, not by one move, not by a move he had some resistance to. This thing was strong...

"Lynch!" Ronnie screamed, as she bundled into the cramped 4x4 with everyone else.

"I'm coming!" the mercenary bellowed, temporarily losing his cool. He swore loudly as his AK clicked empty, having made no impact on the Scolipede-thing, and lobbed the actual gun at it, where it clanged off of the armour and started to dissolve.

Aaron quickly returned Sceptile, to prevent the beast from eating his unconscious partner, and dashed for the Hummer, somehow finding the will in the torturous heat to sprint. Unscathed, he swung himself into the front passenger seat along with a Pokemon, a one-eyed Gallade that had lost its master and had fought hard. The Gallade nodded to him, blinking its one good eye at his ragged appearance, before Lynch slid into the driver's seat and got the Hummer's engine roaring, wheels skidding in the sand as the huge, lumbering 4x4 lurched off at speed.

"But Lynch!" Luca yelled from somewhere in the seething mass of around 12 bodies that occupied the back of the Hummer. "There's still two people there!"

Aaron looked out of the window into the mirror, and saw that she was right. At the feet of the Scolipede-thing lay the twitching body of a still-alive man, trying to crawl from beneath the creature to safety while his wife made a dash towards him, attempting to save him.

"Not anymore there isn't," he replied grimly. Even at a rapidly-increasing distance away, he could make out the figure of the monster slice down with its twin blades, impaling the woman through the chest, lifting her up into the air as her limp body hung from the sharp horns. It then reared triumphantly, before coming down to earth with a thump and a tremor that shook the Hummer, the injured man lost beneath its feet. Aaron could imagine the crunch his body made too vividly, and turned away, feeling sick as the monster tried to pluck the woman's body from its horns using its mouth, which was proving difficult for it. Too much blood...

"You mean..." A man started to say. "They're now... dead? The Carpathians? Dead?"

"You left people behind?" the woman next to him yelled, horrified at Lynch's actions, and a lot of the others started to join in, even Luca and Ronnie.

In reply the mercenary fired a shot from his Desert Eagle into the roof, the loud bang and the 'pock' as it made a hole shutting people up. "Silence! Yes, I left them behind! Yes, they're dead! But we are alive, and if it wasn't for them we wouldn't make it. We had to leave them!"

"Because..." Mr Bartlett said, trying to work it out out loud. "Because otherwise, that thing would have killed them anyway, then seen us all still waiting there and killed the rest of us. Whereas by leaving, we gave ourselves some extra time to survive."

Lynch snapped his fingers, and nearly smiled. "Exactly! It'll still come after us, but now we have a lead, an edge over it! We can live!"

There were a few mutters and grumbles (as there would be- if you'd just left your friend for dead, you wouldn't be happy about it), but the people in the Hummer seemed to go with it.

"So where now?" Mrs Bartlett asked, speaking up for the first time.

"Back to the Resort."

"What?" Damien shouted from the boot. "I thought the whole point was to leave the Resort, for Castelia!"

Lynch tried not to snarl at the chorus of 'Yeah's. "Listen, kid, that plan went out of the window when it stared attacking us! And besides, take a look around you."

Ronnie, shaking, looked out of the window of the Hummer to see... nothing. The Desert was normally empty of significant things anyway, but the entire landscape was now obscured from view by a seething, billowing cloud of sand that tore around the Hummer and shook it. The sandstorm had grown and become a superstorm, and the wall of golden-yellow surrounded the Hummer entirely. "Sandstorm..."

Lynch nodded. "And I'm not risking anything. Against that thing, in this storm, we won't make it to Castelia in one piece. Hell, we're risking it running back to the Resort. But it's closer than Castelia, and there's shelter, and weapons. We can be safe there."

The group nodded in acceptance as the Hummer's engine roared, speeding forward, the only noise in the silence...

"What was that thing?" a small child of indeterminable gender piped up, a fearful edge to its voice.

"A monster..." Aaron said simply. "A horrible, evil monster..."

"Something like that should never ever exist, in any way," Mr Bartlett muttered, clutching a crucifix on a chain around his neck. "It's an abomination!"

"It's bloody impossible, that's what it is," the man said, shaking his head. "I mean, did you see the Discharge attack? No normal Scolipede can do that! No way are they capable of electrical attacks!"

"No way are they normally 30ft tall either," the woman added. "No way can they have armour and bodies that ooze acidic poison like blood, no way can they have six rows of teeth and six eyes. And no way can they Dig!"

Aaron turned and opened his mouth to say, "Actually, they can use Dig,", but his mouth snapped shut in horror immediately. Twisting back around, he looked in the mirror with mounting fear. In the harsh sandstorm, vision was limited, but even so Aaron should have been able to see a shadowy figure 30ft high and 50ft long. A shadowy figure that wasn't there... "Oh shit! Lynch! It's coming for us! Tunnelling underground!"

Jumping to the mirror, Lynch recognised the threat, before he suddenly swerved the Hummer to the right, as the sands erupted in front of them, a long horned head lurching up to strike the air where the Hummer would have been, razor sharp teeth clamping down on nothing. "It's here!"

As the Hummer roared past, bouncing slightly over a dune, the creature turned, a long, graceful, slow movement, but there was nothing slow about how it moved- adopting a lurching run on all 8 legs, its body rippling like a wave as it flowed forward with fast pace, the Scolipede started to close in on the Hummer. With an upwards leap, the beast's horns sliced through the boot door like a knife through hot butter, the whole thing dissolving away from the poison, sand from the sandstorm howling into the crowded boot.

Lynch wrestled with the steering wheel as the Hummer ploughed through dunes, wrenching it one way, then the other, trying to lose the pursuer. "It's no good... We're not going to make it..."

"We need a distraction, something to hold it up for a while!" Aaron yelled over the storm. "But what?! We're running out of ammunition and Pokemon..."

Somehow, at the very back of the vehicle, Damien heard Aaron's words. Clutching his Pokeball, he murmured a few words to himself, before he slid his legs over the lip of the boot, the yawning abyss of the creature's mouth gaping before him. "I guess it's up to me..."

Ronnie turned to see Damien dangling out of the back of the Hummer, a grim look on his face. "What are you... Damien! No! NO!"

Damien shook his head, leaning out of the way of the frantic grab, and smiled at his childhood friend, his best friend, the girl he loved, for what would be the last time. "I'm sorry... For everything.." he announced loudly, his voice somehow cutting through the howling winds. "I'm so so sorry..."

Aaron heard that, heard Ronnie's screams, and he yelled out in horror too- even despite what Damien did to Ronnie, he didn't want this. But his yells were futile, and with one last nod Damien tipped himself out of the moving Hummer, to impact hard on the Desert floor, soon lost in the sandstorm as the Hummer sped off...

**(***)**

Damien hit the ground and rolled, forcing himself upright, straining against the ferocious winds of the sandstorm, struggling to remain standing. The blistering heat, when combined with the bitter winds and the painful grains of sand that flew with the storm, made the Desert unbearable, but he had to be here. For Ronnie...

Damien opened his Pokeball while holding his arm out into the air, protecting his face and his eyes from the blinding sand. His Swoobat, Amour, flapped furiously to remain beside him, struggling with the gale, paling slightly at the sight of the huge shadow appearing, barrelling towards them.

"Air Slash, Amour!" Damien yelled, regretting it instantly as his mouth filled with sand. But his Swoobat complied, charging forward on a collision course with the monster, now fearless. He WOULD protect his master until death...

Which came quite quickly. The gloomy figure in the storm rippled, and a bolt of pure energy, an electrical Discharge at its highest power, slammed into the poor Pokemon at point blank range. The raw power was staggering- Aaron's Sceptile, resistant to it, had been knocked out, but Amour, weak to it, was FRIED. Literally. And if he had somehow survived that, the blackened, charred body of Amour would not have escaped the jaws that descended rapidly from on high to snap him up in one mouthful, the crunch as the monster bit through his wings audible above the storm.

Damien fought back a tear in his eye, shaking fearfully as he walked backwards, fast, away from the slowly approaching Scolipede, which wound itself into coils before him, showing off its full length, size and power, trying to intimidate and mock him. "Doing this... for Ronnie. Doing this for Ronnie. Doing this for Ronnie..." He choked as it bared its fangs, snarling at him. "Oh God..."

The monster, towering above him, slowly brought its head down towards him, forcing him to his knees in a begging position in front of it, six eyes glaring at him, six rows of fangs drooling in anticipation.

"Oh God..."

Then, it struck. But rather than lunge at him and kill him, the creature had its own ideas, one final trick to play on Damien. First it brought its horns down to nudge his left hand and his right hand, both up to protect his face, then it nudged the tip of his nose with a blade tip, and leaned back.

"What the Hell...?" Damien said, starting to stand up, and then the searing pain hit him. Only then did he remember how the horns were tipped with poison so acidic it could burn through a car engine. And, as he peered at the tips of the horns to see purple ooze glistening in the gloom of the sandstorm, he realised it had used that poison on him...

Damien Faraday opened his mouth to scream as the nerves in his hands burned so intensely that white spots flared in his eyes. Quickly, the poison spread, eating through his fingers, dissolving his palms and starting its charge up his arms. And that was just the arms- Damien's nose was rapidly melting, the skin around it becoming charred and burned before the very bone was evaporated by the beast's venom.

Only when Damien stopped screaming, only when the poison entered his open mouth and started to dissolve his tongue and his insides, only when he collapsed to the floor, writhing in intense pain as his body started to blister and die, half of his flesh seared off to make him look like an undead zombie, did the Scolipede rise high. Reaching its tallest height, it gave its loudest, most triumphant shriek, before its head plunged down, its jaws snapping and closing around the hotel steward's body with a crunch...

The Death Worm reared back upright once more, blood congealing on its poisonous fangs, and shrieked once more. The Desert's champion had struck again, but, as the Worm disappeared back into the sands, burrowing underground, there was still a Hummer to chase down and feast on...

**(***)**

Aaron closed his eyes as he thought of what the monster might be doing to Damien at that time. He'd sacrificed himself, foolishly, stupidly, to buy the others a few more seconds before the Scolipede-thing returned to finish them off. Aaron had hated him for everything he'd done to Ronnie, and yet, now, as he realised with aching certainty that Damien wouldn't survive, that that was the last he would ever see of him, he was sad. Ashamed a little- perhaps his reaction to Damien's attempt to force himself on Ronnie had caused Damien to willingly, basically, commit suicide- but mostly sad, filled with sorrow.

The one-eyed Gallade patted him on the back, and Lynch turned to face him. "Why did he do that? Just, why? Why throw your life away like that?"

"He wanted to redeem himself for me and Ronnie," Aaron said hollowly, shaking his head. "He was sorry..."

Luca looked up at Lynch beside Ronnie, who was crying, and nodded twice to Aaron- Ronnie was upset because she had lost her childhood friend, her best friend, and that hurt, even despite his actions. She loved Aaron, and hated what Damien had done, but losing a friend was always tough.

"Um.." Mr Bartlett said. "Hate to break it to you Mr Lynch, but the distraction hasn't really worked!"

Lynch twisted in his seat again, to see that infernal shadow appearing through the sandstorm once more. "So it definitely killed Damien... and now it wants us. Hold on!"

The shadow lurched and writhed, the monster getting closer and closer to the speeding Hummer. As the Hummer lost momentum with a poor landing on the other side of a large dune, the thing managed to catch up, perfectly within striking distance, totally visible to all- it was so close that it started Ronnie crying again, as she saw the blood on its fangs, and she screamed with the others as it lunged forward, gaping maw stretching to kill the Hummer's passengers...

But as it did so, it reared back in pain, stopping, as a Focus Blast attack rippled over the roof of the Hummer and struck right between the eyes.

"What the Hell..." Aaron muttered, and then, through the sandstorm, it became crystal clear..

The Hummer was now driving on smooth road, the final straight stretch of concrete and tarmac towards the Resort, and the monster was following them. But on either side of the road stood a formidable gathering of Pokemon, sharp claws and fangs bared viciously. Two clans of Pokemon, once rivals, now coming together to defeat the intruder, the mutant Scolipede...

As armies of Krookodile, Krokorok and Sandile roared and charged forward towards the monster, and as Scraggy and Scrafty leapt up with attacks, one figure stood in the middle of the access road, clutching a spear made from a sharpened wooden stake, grinning widely at the sight of the two united Pokemon species rushing into battle. Asbo the Shiny Scrafty paused as the Hummer sped past, recognising the inhabitants, and nodded ever so briefly to Aaron, before sprinting forward to join his brothers in fighting the creature that was looking surprised and overwhelmed at the sight of so many attackers.

Aaron smiled to Lynch, despite everything. "He's paying us back for not killing him. It's his way of a thank you."

"That cunning Scrafty," Lynch muttered, cresting a dune to see the Resort in sight. "How he managed to unite them all I have no idea... And now he's sacrificed himself to protect us from that thing..."

The sombre silence, the sorrowful and scared mood returned once more to the Hummer as it headed towards the Resort, a ferocious brawl erupting in the Desert behind it as Scrafty and Krookodile clans laid down their differences to take on the monster that had killed so many. The humans too reflected on the ones they'd lost that day, but one thought, one selfish little thought popped up in the back of their subconsciouses- I am still alive...

**(***)**

The Resort was in chaos when the group finally entered the main lobby, and just in the nick of time too. Saralorno had ordered the staff to close all security windows, and metal bars and shutters had slid down over every possible entrance as a precaution, locking everybody else outside in the sandstorm. Of the convoy that departed, only one tenth of it had made it back to the Resort, to hide with the others who'd opted to remain behind- one third of the guests and staff were missing, either somewhere in the Desert or dead.

Aaron barged his way through the pandemonium to roughly the middle, Ronnie and Luca in tow, and he shook his head as he watched humans and Pokemon fighting over food supplies, squabbling and bickering in panic, wanting to be prepared for if the worst came to the worst. "This is havoc..."

"Tell me about it," Lynch said, pulling himself up to the top of an ornamental fountain and surveying the madness. "Makes me wonder why I actually came back here... Or came here at all..."

"Mr Lynch!"

Lynch turned to see the Board of the Desert Resort elbowing its way through the throng towards it, Saralorno at its head. "Yes?"

"I guess we owe you an apology," Saralorno said, nervously wringing his hands. "Turns out that the monster does want to kill us all..."

"You can thank me in your will," Lynch said, tersely, bluntly, shortly, striding off away from the stunned Board. "Aaron, Ronnie, Luca, I'm getting some more weapons, heavier ones, since my AK was useless and is gone. I'll come and find you, then we'll make a plan. I'm not planning on staying in this prison when that monster breaks in and slaughters everyone..."

Saralorno shook his head disbelievingly at the disappearing mercenary, then turned to Aaron and Ronnie. "Anyway, I have a video call for you waiting in my office..."

"Not interested," Ronnie said shakily, shaking her head. "Not now."

"Oh really? Old man, short, stocky, quite tanned in the face?" He put on a bad accent. "Speaks like thees?"

Aaron's face froze in stunned shock, not believing what Saralorno was saying. "No way... Him?!"

"You better come and talk to him," Mr Harajuku from the Board said, gently taking Ronnie and Aaron by the elbow and tugging them along, Luca bobbing along behind with a confused air about her. The Board managed to slip through the gathering of people, still fighting over supplies, and up the stairs to the top floor, headed towards Saralorno's office.

In the office, Aaron froze once more at the sight on the large computer screen. The old man on the screen beamed out at him with a blindingly-white smile that shone and glimmered, contrasting with his brown, tanned face. His hair was a silvery-grey, and he had quite thin eyebrows that remained slightly dark; he may have been quite old, but he still had some years left in him. He was dressed in a brown business suit with a white shirt and wore, despite being indoors and on camera, a brown Trilby hat with a yellow band around it. The only other colour on his person was in the form of his tie, a bright canary-yellow affair that he fiddled with unconsciously as he faced the camera, a familiar face from Aaron and Ronnie's past...

"Buongiorno, Aaron, Ronnie!" Sage Alessandro Giallo, formerly of Team Plasma, exclaimed in his rich Italian accent, beaming at them. "I trust that you are having a good rest een the Desert...?"

**A/N: So the Death Worm was, in actual fact, a Scolipede! That brings the 'Guess the Monster' competition to a close, and nobody won it :( but hey, look on the bright side... Giallo is back! :D My favourite Sage! Now, either Giallo knows something about this monster, or he just has the worst possible timing. EVER. What do you reckon it is? :)**

**Next chapter- Ronnie rages, Giallo comes clean and Aaron draws up battle plans as the Death Worm draws closer to the Resort, and the potential slaughter awaiting it inside... Coming soon...**

**Thanks for reading! A review is always appreciated, and until next time, adios amigos! :D**

**Sharkness**


	7. Battle Plans

**A/N: Here we are folks! Chapter 7! :D I'm sorry it has been a little while coming. I have had tons of work, schoolwork, exams, writer's block AND obsessions with Ace Attorney games to put up with, and then because of the snow where I live, I kind of got distracted building snowmen :L better late than never though...**

**So last chapter we learned that the Death Worm was a Scolipede, and we saw Damien get gruesomely dissolved by its poison, before our very eyes. And then Sage Giallo called Aaron and co! A bit suspicious with the timing, but what really are Giallo's motives? Let's find out, shall we? :) On with the show..**

For a moment in the Desert Resort, the office of Stefan Saralorno fell completely quiet. On the screen projected above Saralorno's desk the old man on the screen smiled benignly at the occupants of the room, while beneath him Saralorno slouched in his office chair, confused as to the identity of the person who had insisted on calling for Aaron and Ronnie, even at a time like this. Luca, Aaron and Ronnie were grouped together beneath the screen, sat on the long glass table that stretched along the length of the room. Luca and Minty the Riolu were smiling faintly, not knowing who the old man was, while Ronnie looked absolutely stunned. Aaron just shook his head, and jumped off of the table, pacing along the side of the table, no light coming in from the window as the protective metal shutters slid down in futile defence against the Scolipede monster that was threatening the Resort. So Aaron paced. And Aaron remembered...

In Undella Town, site of the attack of the Slendermon, Aaron and his friends, running desperately for their lives, had met the Seven Sages of Team Plasma, who had arrived in Undella to destroy the Slendermon. A Plasma creation, Aaron was at first left wondering why they wanted to destroy it, but in actual fact the Sages had not known about its creation, a fact that had been hidden from them by Ghetsis, who had also betrayed them by blaming them for Plasma's evil schemes DESPITE him being the sole mastermind/leader. Complex, yes, but what mattered was that the Sages wanted to earn redemption and forgiveness by destroying the Slendermon, and eventually, with the help of Aaron and co, they succeeded, but at the price of the lives of four Sages. The old man on the screen was Sage Alessandro Giallo, a survivor, a man who had never meant any harm, a man who Aaron had defended- why he was calling Aaron now was beyond him though.

Giallo's face looked worried as silence descended on the Resort. "Sometheeng the matter?" he asked, a little timidly, still with a touch of his strong Italian accent.

"Who is this guy?" Luca asked, piping up. "Do you two know him?"

Ronnie was quiet for a moment, then she spoke. "You've done it again, haven't you?" she said hollowly.

Giallo paled. "Done what?"

Then Ronnie erupted. "You know what you've done! You LIED to us! You said the Slendermon was the only one, that you were innocent, that you had no idea about these MONSTERS! And we go off to the Desert, we're supposed to relax and put everything behind us, and THEN you send another ABOMINATION to kill us, because your Slendermon didn't do the job! AND THEN you call us just when we're about to die! Are you going to mock us? Huh? Are you?"

And with that she burst into tears, her anger spent, hysterically shaking. Aaron moved in to hug her, to draw her in and try to comfort her- he knew how much fear affected her, especially when nightmares like the mutant Scolipede were involved. "She has a point Giallo. Why call us now? And why are we being attacked by another monster, when you promised us there were no more?"

Aaron's forceful tones, combined with Ronnie's shouting, started to make Giallo's lower lip tremble a little, his normally vibrant eyes no longer glittering in happiness; now they were wide, lost and afraid. "Wait a meenute? What ees thees? Another monster? What do you mean?"

"Never mind that, who is this guy?" Luca said. "What did he do?"

"And what the Hell is this Slendermon?" Saralorno huffed impatiently. "Did I miss something crucial here?"

Minty the Riolu grimaced, the strong negative Auras and the angry questions in the room paining him, before he sighed, and his eyes glowed light blue. Light blue trails of Aura formed in the air, connecting everyone in the room, and Minty closed his eyes, manipulating memories along the Aura pathways, informing everyone in the room of what had happened.

Saralorno lunged for a wastepaper basket and threw up in it, disgusted by the information he had just received. "My God! You got attacked by THAT?!"

Luca nodded weakly. "Hence why Aaron keeps muttering 'Here we go again' every time he sees that Scolipede..." She paused, revelation dawning. "You are Sage Giallo! Team Plasma! YOU created that monster!"

Giallo looked shocked, waving his hands frantically. "That was not me! That was Colress and Ghetsees! I tried to destroy eet, and half of my friends died een the fight! And I was sent to call on you by Looker, to check how you were doing, how you were enjoying your holiday! Not my fault my timing ees poor! Dios mios..." His face looked frustrated. "Now, WHAT THE HELL DO YOU MEAN, ANOTHER MONSTER?"

"A huge mutant Scolipede, with six eyes and six rows of teeth, that's what we mean," Aaron said firmly. "It's about fifty foot long, has armour covered in poison that can melt through steel, and can shoot electricity, AND it's killed about thirty people and Pokemon so far. Sound familiar at all? Another of Colress' secret experiments?"

"No, certainly not!" Giallo said, brow furrowed in thought, running a hand through his silver hair. "Eet sounds very unusual, I theenk I would remember reading that Colress made one of them..." Then he paused, and his face paled. "Madre di Dios..."

"What?" Ronnie asked, having finally calmed down enough to face Giallo.

"Scolipede? Desert? Oh, mierda. That, mi amici, ees the 'Verme di Morte'. One of the greatest myths of the Pokemon world... The Death Worm." He looked stunned as he registered the blank faces. "Wait, none of you have heard of eet before?"

"No," said Saralorno wearily, shaking his head. "Why should we have?" Then his gaze hardened. "And why have you?"

Giallo sighed. "I guess I can tell you all. I trust you with my lives." He pointed at Aaron. "You SAVED mine."

Aaron smiled faintly. "And you saved mine. We're equal. What is it you want to tell us?"

Giallo took a deep breath. "Well... een Team Plasma, us Sages... we had different roles. Zinzolin was a meeleetary leader, een charge of the Grunts. Bronius built equipment and bases for us. And I... I was a researcher. Eet was my job to track down Genesect, the lost Plasma expereement. And een the process, I deescovered sometheeng new about our world. Anomalies, outside of normal evolution, victims of genetic mutations and malfunctions that are way beyond any normal alteration to a Pokemon... the cryptids. Or, as I like to call them, because of their normal savage hatred of anything different to themselves, the Pokemonsters."

"Pokemonsters..." Ronnie moaned, paling. "I don't like this... You mean there's more of them?"

"How many more of them are we going to meet, I wonder?" Aaron muttered sarcastically.

Luca shushed him. "Don't jinx it! Two is bad enough, you don't want to meet all of them..."

Giallo nodded in response to Ronnie. "Unfortunately, si. Eet ees why Colress made 'the Slendermon'- he based eet on the legend, which was then only a mere story, and made a Pokemonster. But there are natural monsters too, who suffer from severe mutations during natural selection, and the Death Worm ees one of them..."

"I see," Luca said. "So you have researched it?"

Giallo nodded. "Si. Eet eenterests me, these monsters, how they exist. Ryoku was sent to the Desert to capture eet for Ghetsees, after he saw my research, but Ryoku came back empty handed. He said there are theengs een the Desert whose power weell blow your mind..."

"I think we learned that today," Ronnie said weakly. "What do you know about it? Anything helpful to us?"

Giallo cleared his throat. "Well, the legend of the Worm started around two and a half thousand years ago, when the Relic Castle was built. Back then the Worm was well-known, the undeesputed ruler and champion of the Desert, but it was a ferocious murderer, a demon to be feared by all... unteel the White Hero moved een, and built the Castle. The humans ousted the Worm, and sent eet packing with the help of a deity... a Pokemon god."

"Go on..." Saralorno said.

"Well, from then unteel now the Death Worm has woken many times, but quite a few weethout anytheeng bad happening. Eet appears to hate water, hibernating underground, and eet hates humans- eet reserves a special hatred for us, and tries to keell as many as possible. At first the Castle used the resident deity to drive eet away, but when the Castle died the Worm had none of that opposition, and no human would live in the Desert for fear of eet. Yet eet kept to a pattern..."

"A pattern?" chorused the room.

"Si. Eet only wakes once every hundred years. The last sighting was forty years ago- an explorer named Leigh Hunt spotted eet on expedition, and wrote a diary. Sometheeng must have happened to wake eet up early..."

"And I think I know what," Aaron said grimly, pointing to Saralorno. "The vibrations and tremors from your construction machines woke it from hibernation."

"And because it hates us humans, it decided to come after us," Ronnie added, glaring at the paling Resort boss.

"I wasn't to know..." Saralorno tried to argue.

"You weren't," Luca agreed evenly, shaking her head. "But it's still your fault that it's awake, and now it's pissed."

"Si, eet's peessed," Giallo agreed. Then he frowned. "So why eesn't eet attacking you all now?"

"There's a sandstorm outside," Ronnie answered, "and two armies of Pokemon, Krookodile and Scrafty, have united against the Death Worm."

"Odd. Normally those two species fight each other to the death," Giallo commented. "They won't last long against that theeng mind you. Then you'll have to battle eet eenstead..."

"Yes, sooner or later we're going to end up fighting it," Aaron said wearily. "I don't want to say it, but we will, no two ways about it. What weaknesses does it have? How do we defeat it?"

"Yes, I was wondering the exact same thing."

The people in the room turned to see Lynch standing proudly in the doorway of the office, propping himself upright with the help of a new AK. He didn't just have that though- the one-eyed Gallade with him was bent double under the weight of a mighty arsenal, and Lynch himself bristled with blades and gun barrels.

"Madre di Dios!" Giallo said. "Who ees thees man? He has more weapons than all of Team Plasma combined!"

"It's necessary," Lynch replied with a shrug. "I'm Lynch. Aaron, who's the old man?"

"Sage Giallo, formerly of Team Plasma. And a friend," Aaron added hastily, knowing that Lynch knew about Team Plasma's involvement with the Slendermon. "Jesus Christ Lynch, how many weapons do you need?"

"Enough," he replied simply, tossing a few handguns and blades to the others, Ronnie in particular taking them with great glee. "So, Mr Giallo, what's the plan from here? I heard you said it was the Death Worm, and I recognise that name..."

Despite the situation Giallo smiled. "See? I told you someone else would know about the Death Worm! I'm not alone in my.." He faltered, looking at Lynch. "Where on Earth have you managed to get that RXP-12 from? That's banned een four different regions, and the army forbids the use of eet because of the dangers to human life eet provides ON BOTH SIDES!"

Lynch shrugged casually. "You can never be too careful. I might need it. Anyway, you were saying, weaknesses?"

Giallo composed himself. "Ah, si signor! I know that eet suffers the same type disadvantages as other members of the Scolipede species, but eet requires stronger heets; eet has a very high Defence because of the armour eet wears. Physical attacks are not the best, conseedering the armour ees coated een a poison so strong that eet can dissolve steel- stick to range attacks. Eet ees for some reason weak especially to Water, hence why eet hates the wet season, and why eet hibernates during monsoons. Otherwise, you need very strong Pokemon to counter eet. And I know where to get them..."

The room was silent for a moment.

"Where?" Aaron asked finally, dreading the answer.

"The Relic Castle."

"No way," Ronnie said adamantly, shaking her head and backing away from the screen. "If you think I'm going back out into the Desert with that thing, then you're wrong!"

"Yes siree you are wrong," Saralorno said. "The Resort's defences are impenetrable; the creature will not make it through. We shall remain here!"

"Then you weell die!" Giallo snapped suddenly, his tanned face reddening in anger. "Aaron, Ronnie, you are my friends, fellow survivors, and I don't want you to die at the hands of another monster! Eef you remain here, you weell die! Only by finding the strongest Pokemon een thees Desert weell you survive- otherwise you weell perish, trapped in thees prison of a Resort!"

"He has a point," Lynch said. "The armies of Pokemon outside are suffering badly, and by going now to the Castle we would buy ourselves some more time, rather than stay here when it attacks."

Aaron nodded. "Come on Ronnie! I'm not staying here, to die!"

Ronnie looked torn for a moment. ".. Okay. I'll come. But what do we do when we get to the Castle?"

"At the moment, I am contacting Looker," Giallo said, the clicking of a computer keyboard audible. "He weell send backup to rescue you, call out the army and the Police, et cetera. Before you go, check your PCs. I have transferred some of the Pokemon of my former colleagues and Sages across to you- they are powerful, and have a type advantage."

"Do the others agree with you doing this?" Luca asked, surprised.

Giallo shrugged. "Eet's for our friends. They weell agree... anyway, when you get to the Castle you should eenvestigate the Darmanitan statues. There were five of them, but now there are four- Rood's Darmanitan was one of them, before he woke eet up."

"How?"

"Easy. The most energetic, calorific object the world has ever known gives the statue enough energy to awaken." Giallo grinned. "RageCandyBars. Get them from the vending machines in the Resort."

"You serious?" Luca asked.

"Deadly."

"Here," Saralorno called, opening a desk drawer and throwing a few brightly coloured packets at Aaron. "I like to keep a stockpile of them in my desk, to give me enough energy to keep working through the night. You take them."

"You're not coming with us?" Lynch said, arching an eyebrow in surprise. "I always put you down as a coward, Saralorno. The kind of man who is first to abandon ship and avoid the bloodshed, to stay out of the fight..."

Saralorno ignored the jibe, instead striding to Lynch's weapons pile and selecting a pump-action shotgun. "This Resort is my life's work, my pride and joy, the thing I have poured my money into. I will not leave this, not even for all the money in Castelia."

"You are truly a proud, brave and foolish man," Giallo said, shaking his head.

Saralorno responded by loading the gun. "I would say you're more foolish heading to the Castle, but that's just me. So what then?"

"Then, you find the guardian of the Castle. The strongest Pokemon een the Desert, eet should easily be able to fight the Death Worm. Then you hold out een the Castle unteel rescue arrives. I know, the Worm hates the Castle, and weell probably go there after destroying the Resort, to finish what eet started two thousand years ago, but you are buying yourselves time."

Ronnie walked over from a PC in the corner of the room, arms full of Ultra Balls. "Thank you for your concern Giallo. And for the Pokemon- we owe you."

"You don't owe me anytheeng," Giallo said, vigorously shaking his head. "I just don't want to see my friends die..."

Ronnie hung her head. "We won't, Giallo. Don't worry..."

Giallo swallowed, a lump clearly in his throat. "Ciao, mi amici. Looker and I shall see you soon, I hope."

"Goodbye Giallo," Aaron replied hollowly, as the Sage turned the screen off on his end, trying to hide the tear forming in his eye. He felt uncomfortable too now. And he REALLY wanted to survive...

Lynch clapped his hands together. "Well then! If we're not going to die, then let's get going..."

"Wait just one moment!"

The occupants of the room turned to see Mr and Mrs Bartlett, the old couple who had survived the Death Worm's first attack, leaning in the doorway. Mrs Bartlett was leaning on a cane, her false leg missing from where the Worm had bitten it off, but they looked fit and fresh.

Aaron smiled amiably. "Yes?"

"Well, we came up here to find you, and I heard what you were all talking about in those last few minutes," Mr Bartlett said. "If there's space, we'd like to come too. To leave this place."

"There really aren't that many Pokemon left alive out there," Mrs Bartlett added. "They aren't able to hold that monster back much longer, so we'd best get going..."

"Right!" Aaron nodded. Then he frowned. "Wait... Aren't all of the exits closed off because of the emergency shutters? So how are we going to get out of here AND to the Castle?"

"Allow me," Saralorno said, clicking a button on his desk. "That's the button that controls the shutters to the rear left garage. It's pretty small, and there's only one Hummer in there, but there's fuel in the Hummer, and it should allow you to sneak out of there unnoticed by the Worm. It is the only vehicle that can leave undetected. Take it.."

"Huh," Luca said, shouldering a shotgun. "You do actually have a heart."

Saralorno shook his head. "I've already condemned all these people to their deaths by not evacuating them. If I can save some people at least, it would be something."

"It doesn't redeem you Saralorno," Lynch said bluntly. "You're still a heartless bastard who didn't care about his daughter's death, who took all the money he could, who effectively gave a hotel full of people the death sentence."

Saralorno sighed. "I know. And I will die knowing that. You should be happy, Mister Lynch. Take your chances, and run while you can..." He glared at the gathering. "Are you still here? Go! GO!"

**(***)**

The sandstorm was finally abating in the Desert, the harsh winds and bitter, coarse, painful sands that they stirred up dying and evaporating, the dunes finally calming at long last. As the weather itself cooled to a mere fraction of what it once was, so did the fray, the epic skirmish, the battle between Pokemon clans and Death Worm that had enveloped the Desert. It had once been terrifying and ferocious, but now one side was on its knees, begging for mercy or running for freedom and a chance to live...

The last fearless Krookodile, its legs reduced to stumps by vicious slashes from claws, attempted to drag itself up the side of a tall dune and reach its formidable foe, the vicious creature that had been unearthed by the humans' hotel construction. Yet it was all in vain- as the Krookodile feebly lifted its right arm and tried to ignite a Dragon Claw to use against its enemy, the mighty monster, stained with the blood of so many Pokemon, reared up, blotting out the sun, a long shadow falling across its last victim before it brought its huge weight crashing down, the soft sand beneath the Krookodile giving way for a few metres before the broken body was crushed against the bedrock...

The Death Worm screeched manically and triumphantly as it saw its last victim crushed like a mere Durant into the Desert it thought it had owned. So weak and pathetic... Those Pokemon had actually believed they were the leaders of the Desert, the kings, the emperors that ruled over all. But the Death Worm reigned supreme, and it always had- nobody would challenge it, or overthrow it. And it wouldn't rest in hibernation until the last remains of the humans that had invaded its Desert were obliterated...

It turned its mighty maw to sneer at the Resort standing before it. Glimmering in glass and metal, it was an affront to the Worm, an abomination, a sign that the humans thought they were the dominant species in this world of barren sand and dust. But they were wrong. And they thought they could hide behind puny defences of metal, despite the sheer strength of its own acidic venom, and brave it out against the demon, the monster that lurked in the sand and ruled over the dunes. Now the Worm would show them how wrong they really were...

Something on the horizon caught the eye of the mutant Scolipede, and its six eyes, squinting against the bright sunlight, watched as one of the human vehicles emerged from behind the Resort, setting off on a desperate flight across the sands to an unknown destination. But they would not survive. They had simply bought themselves a few minutes; after the Resort lay in ruins, it would come for them...

The Death Worm refocused on the Resort in front of it, all six rows of needle-like fangs bared in a sociopathic, malevolent grin, all six eyes glistening with pure hatred, all horns and spikes oozing its savagely powerful poison. Then it shrieked its terrifying, bone-chilling call, like the scream of a banshee before a death, and lunged forward towards the Resort, long body coiling and slinking in a graceful yet forceful charge. It was time for the humans it despised so much to be erased from its world. It was time for the Death Worm to rule once more...

**A/N: And so begins a lot of bloody, needless carnage in a T-rated fic, as the Death Worm begins to slaughter the inhabitants of the Resort! But Giallo has planned everything for everyone though- will his plan work? And will they survive, even if the Worm will definitely come after them?**

**Next chapter- A desperate dash across the dunes, a savage slaughter and some revelations about a certain, enigmatic Mister Lynch... Coming soon...**

**Thanks for reading! A review is always greatly appreciated, and until next time, adios amigos! :D**

**Sharkness**


	8. Coming Clean

**A/N: I'm so sorry that I haven't updated this in ages folks! :( I have had some of the worst exams and homework assignments and writer's block and personal/family troubles, it has been unreal! But now, finally, this story is back! Chapter 8! :D**

**Last chapter I left off with Aaron, Ronnie and co fleeing for their lives, after drawing up a battle plan (well, more of an escape plan really). But thanks to Giallo, they now have a better chance of survival, and this is the beginning of that plan, PLUS some important revelations about a certain enigma we all know and love! Anyway, on with the show...**

Now, there was no respite, no compromise, no relief in the Desert. It was midday, in summer, in one of the harshest and most violent wildernesses in the world, and that meant only one thing. In this desolation, in this empty void of ancient, shattered rock and sand, in this infinity of dead landscape slowly being enveloped and consumed by the inevitable yet rapid destructive forces of time, there was no mercy. The heat had arrived..

The air rippled and shimmered as the stifling blanket of blazing heat took a firm hold on the Desert. The glare of the sun overhead was uncompromising, unrelenting, unforgiving, and made every living creature on the dunes suffer its seemingly-infinite wrath. Even the hardiest of inhabitants, the ones who survive even the toughest days and nights in the arid, barren wasteland, were finding it a struggle to keep going against a wall of fire- even a lone Maractus, a Pokemon which was famously and supposedly able to keep going through the heat without any water, was wilting and starting to shrivel as it struggled up the side of the dune. The only moisture to keep going was the intense level of perspiration from the inhabitants themselves; without that, the Desert would have became a graveyard. From the bleached and dried bones of Pokemon that lay across the sand, from the bare landscape void of any obvious signs of life, it appeared to be a graveyard already- the morbid stench of the empty sand hung in the air, the aura of death stronger here than in any funeral parlour.

Brief respite came in the form of a breeze that sprang up suddenly, wafting in from the coast where the heat of the Desert spread out across the ocean and battled with the cool ocean currents. One slight gust fought its way in, through the seemingly impenetrable fortress walls of fire, and for a moment the wind shook the dead sands with beautifully cool and pleasant aid. The Maractus shivered from its soothing effects, but for only a fraction of a second- the heat soon returned to lay siege to the dry sea, and the pain was brought back with it too..

The stillness of the scene around the lone Maractus was interrupted by the loud, low rumble of engines, a mechanical growl of defiance against the blazing heat, and wearily, as if using its last breath for its last movement, the Maractus turned to face the newcomer, before fear and panic filtered into the pained eyes of the Grass-type. With a cry and a sharp clicking of joints in a fast tempo, the Cactus Pokemon leapt to one side, somehow finding the energy to dodge the oncoming behemoth and save itself as it roared past, scrambling up the dune with titanic effort. Its tracks were deep and strong and powerful, left in long lines across the sand as far as the eye could see, from horizon to horizon, and it wasn't stopping- with a sickly crunch, the roar grew louder and it surged forward, struggling on over difficult terrain towards its destination...

Inexplicably, the lights of the Hummer were on during the middle of the day, and fortunately for the occupants of it so was the air conditioning- without it they would be roasted alive in a furnace of a vehicle, a rolling metal funeral pyre. Aaron however, watching out of the window as Lynch urged the 4x4 on, noticed the plight of the poor Pokemon outside, how thirsty and bedraggled it looked, and took pity- from the coolbox in the middle of the Hummer he pulled a bottle of chilled water, unwound the window and, bracing himself against the sudden punch of heat and sand-sharpened wind, threw the bottle out onto the dunes towards the Maractus. He smiled briefly, faintly, when he saw the fast-disappearing Pokemon's face light up with glee at its salvation, holding the water bottle reverently. Too many had died because of the Death Worm- if he could help just one thing survive today, he would feel good about it. And then, as he thought of the Worm, his mood darkened...

They had been going roughly 30 minutes in the Hummer, across soft sand and difficult ground that tested even the abilities of the renowned-for-being-rugged vehicle to the very limits. The wheels thrashed against the dry bog that they were sinking into, and once or twice Aaron had thought that the resolute Hummer would remain stuck in the sand, but the sturdy steed surged on and carried its motley crew onwards towards the light of survival at the end of the tunnel. But the light was dimming and shrinking the longer they stayed lost in the Desert- the Worm would soon be upon them...

Crammed in the front of the Hummer in the driver's seat, sat alongside Ronnie and the one-eyed Gallade, Lynch remained poised and concentrating, his hands constantly shifting positions and turning the steering wheel, minute adjustments to compensate for the movement of the heavy 4x4 across the dunes. A bead of sweat trickled down the side of his face as the mercenary concentrated intently on the driving, wanting to save the lives of his friends and himself. There was a slight frown remaining on Lynch's face though, and the still-smoking bullet hole in the Japanese-made radio went some way to explain this; ever since the journey began, it had been inappropriately blasting out 'Walking on Sunshine' at full volume, and out of sheer frustration at not being able to work the controls and find the 'Off' switch (and out of fear of the next album on the CD coming on- even when not in a life-or-death situation, ABBA's 'Greatest Hits' was too depressingly cheerful), Lynch had shot the radio into silence with his Desert Eagle.

When the echoes of the gunshot had died down Aaron had turned to Lynch and asked, "Won't Saralorno be a bit angry when he sees the huge bullet hole in his car where his expensive radio was?", to which the he hunter had merely shrugged indifferently, replying, "Saralorno probably won't be alive any more to care". That morbid attitude was, on reflection, probably 100% true. The slaughter that was about to happen at the Desert Resort would be intense, and the Resort owner had trapped himself in it.

Beside Aaron in the back seat, Mr Bartlett turned to look at him as he closed the window after throwing the bottle out for the Maractus. "Jesus that's hot! Aaron, why did you open the window?"

"Yeah!" his wife complained. "Did you WANT to lose all the nice cool air in here? Or do you actually like blistering heat?"

"Did you see that Maractus? How dry it was? It was dying..."

"So are we," Luca replied, quietly, sarcastically.

"We will do in a minute," Lynch said, bluntly, wrenching the wheel straight as the Hummer bounced off of a boulder. "I have no idea how close to the Relic Castle we are, or where that Worm is. For all we know it's on our tail."

"Remind me never to go to the Desert again," Mrs Bartlett said, the old woman grimacing as she spoke. "The heat kills you, the creatures kill you, the Pokemon try to kill you. It's a death trap.." She shuddered, as did Sceptile, crammed in beside her, nodding and echoing her sentiment.

"Yeah, this place is a death trap," Ronnie murmured hollowly, in the front, raising a hand to point. "And those guys found that out..."

Aaron and the others twisted forward to look and follow Ronnie's finger, and then they saw it. When Lynch had led the convoy out of the Resort, a large group split from the fragmenting crowd of potential Death Worm victims and fled across the Desert, leaderless, in a desperate move to escape the clutches of the sands and reach Castelia before the hideous mutant Scolipede caught up with them. And now, here they were...

There was a terrible atmosphere about the empty remains of the convoy, something eerily and spookily worrying that these cars full of living people and Pokemon, full of emotion and desperation to flee, had been reduced to wreckage this mangled. Charred husks of some of the 4x4s were a sickening sight, where the incredibly-acidic poison of the brutal Worm had burnt the strong metal cars to their bones, piles of ash clearly visible in the footwells where the occupants had been singed to death by something horrifying. When they weren't burnt, they were smashed and twisted, contorted hunks of steel that still in some cases dripped blood and oil onto the Desert below- in one case looking inside an SUV Aaron shook as he saw the crushed body of a small girl who he had seen playing around gleefully in the Resort. She had been so vibrant and happy there; now, her body, dragged halfway through the windscreen, had been mutilated by the savage monster, the flesh of her face melted off to reveal just a stripped-clean skull teetering precariously on a snapped neck that had been cracked horrifically almost 90° to the norm.

As the Mandibuzz started to circle gleefully overhead, Bone Vulture Pokemon waiting patiently for their time to descend and feast on the scraps, Mrs Bartlett and Ronnie ignored earlier gripes about letting the heat in and opened the window, leaning out to throw up on the sands as they passed. As repulsed vomit splattered the black paintwork of the Hummer, Aaron and the others turned away from the tragic sight of the former convoy. They had seen death all too often in the past few days, yet it appeared that this wouldn't be stopping anytime soon. And the deaths were getting worse...

"Poor bastards," Lynch muttered, pressing harder on the accelerator pedal to try and speed away from the carnage, the Hummer lurching forward, wheels spinning and scrabbling on the sand as it tried to carry on past.

"They never really stood a chance against it, did they?" Mr Bartlett said sadly, taking his flat-cap off respectfully as the dot of the convoy shrunk behind him in the distance.

Aaron shook his head. "What is this thing?"

"I have no idea," Lynch replied, urging the Hummer forward up the side of a large, long, high dune that levelled out into a flat plateau that looked out across the entire Desert, from horizon to horizon- the city of Nimbasa was clearly visible on one horizon, shining brightly with vibrance, that air of normal civilisation something that the inhabitants of the Hummer were deeply missing. "But whatever the Death Worm is, however it came into existence, it is one scary beast. And it really has it in for humans..."

Aaron followed the mercenary's gaze as he finished speaking, and he was glad that he and Sceptile were the only ones who did. Looking out across the Desert from the plateau meant that you could see everything in it, every landform, every single dip and rise in the scenery, and every single piece of civilisation... including the Resort. A multi-million dollar masterpiece for Stefan Saralorno to take pride in, the Resort was one man's final victory, one man's final big success in life, and it was the most modern and sprawling tourist destination in Unova, a hive of ultra-grand metal and glass decor. Yet now, sadly, the great Resort was dying; much like the Relic Castle died before it, the biggest piece of human civilisation in the Desert was being crushed. This time however it wasn't time that was the murderer- as smoke billowed from the East Wing and as flames flickered from many windows, a long snaking shape erupted from the roof, rising tall and imperiously above it all before crashing back down into the fray. The Death Worm had won, forced its way into its greatest enemy's lair, and now it would destroy it all..

Aaron closed his eyes and turned away, imagining all too vividly the screams of people inside, imagining the flickering of the flames in the Resort, imagining that terrifying shriek of the triumphant Worm. "My God..."

Lynch nodded. "I know."

"Wait, what?" Luca said, spinning quickly in her seat to try and see what had made Aaron so stunned, but thankfully Lynch's acceleration had brought the Hummer down the other side of the plateau, and the crumbling Resort was no longer visible. Minty the Riolu however knew- he'd sensed it in Aaron's Aura, and the one-eyed Gallade that was sat by Lynch had one glowing red eye, having psychically absorbed what Aaron had seen. Aaron knew however that no matter what they broadcasted into the minds of the Hummer's occupants, they hadn't seen the true magnitude of the horror themselves, so it wouldn't be that bad for the others (but then again, imagining it would probably be even worse for them).

The mercenary shook his head sadly. "This is insane... I shouldn't have come here."

"Neither should I," Mr Bartlett added, most of the vehicle echoing him. "This is just horrible."

"At least you had the choice," Lynch replied. "At least you weren't forced.."

Aaron raised an eyebrow and leaned forward beside Lynch, confused. "What do you mean?"

Lynch sighed. "I'm coming clean. I've... been carrying something with me. For a long time. I need to get it off my chest now, and considering I could die today, I think now is about the best time."

"Go on..." Ronnie said, looking slightly worried.

"You probably all heard Saralorno talking to me when we were in the Resort, how he dragged up my 'dubious' past, how I flipped and nearly killed him throwing knives at him. There's a reason why I don't want my last dragged up... Because I run from it."

"You were... a criminal?" Luca asked.

"Worse. I was a monster." Lynch paused. "When I was younger I wasn't fussy about contracts, who was hiring me to do what. As long as it was good money, I took it and did the job. And then I took the job that made me commit atrocities for a few bucks. I went to Sinnoh."

"Sinnoh? Wait, no..."

"Yes." Lynch nodded. "Team Galactic paid me, a wage double anything any employers were offering at the time, and they got me my first Pokemon, a Crobat. It was probably stolen, but somehow I was happy to work for them. And I did terrible things. I kidnapped Pokemon, I stole, I assaulted... And then the final straw. I was the man who placed the Galactic Bomb in the Safari Zone in Pastoria City. I am the man responsible for the deaths of eighty Pokemon."

"Holy shit..." Aaron breathed, not just at Lynch's staggering confession but at Luca's face. The pink-haired girl hated Galactic, the people who had kidnapped her beloved Pokemon, and now she was swinging between anger at discovering that Lynch could have been one of the kidnappers, and confusion at whether she should be angry or not; after all, this was the man who was saving her life here in the Desert. The conflicting emotions were clearly visible and clearly strong- Minty the Riolu was clutching his head in pain at the power of Luca's surging Aura.

Lynch, the normally emotionless hunter, looked forlorn. "I know..."

"Lynch, I don't suppose you ever remember capturing a Riolu as part of your missions?" Aaron said quickly, before Luca could explode.

Lynch looked thoughtful. "Hmm... No, I don't remember that." Then he looked at Minty, and worked it out, the reality of what Aaron was saying hitting home like a bomb blast. "No!"

Luca nodded, slowly. "You better not have been one of that group, Lynch..."

"I wasn't," the hunter replied. "I did some terrible things, but I do not remember a Riolu; I would remember such a rare Pokemon. And in any case, the Galactic Bomb was what changed me. I saw what I had done for the first time. As a mercenary, sometimes you have to kill, but only those who are truly deserving- I had just slaughtered nearly one hundred innocent Pokemon, and for what? For Team Galactic to prove a point and complete a test. It was sickening to discover what I had become..."

"So what did you do?" Ronnie asked.

"I fled Sinnoh. I won't go back there, ever again, not even to face my past once and for all; the burden I carry is too painful to allow me to do that. I destroyed the Crobat that Galactic had provided me, by taping its Pokeball to the next Galactic Bomb to be set off. All the blood money I was paid is gone too, all that undeserving, criminal wage- I pay half of it into the accounts of the Safari Zone in Pastoria, and half into the accounts of a charity in Sinnoh, dedicated to helping those affected by Galactic's heinous crimes. I thought, if I fled abroad, started again, left it behind, that I could redeem myself, slowly, by doing the right thing." Then Lynch sighed, mournfully. "But Saralorno dragged my past back to me, kicking and screaming. I was considering not doing business with him, and going onto a project in Kanto that would pay more, but he threatened to expose what I had done. He threatened to make it public, to drag my name into the mud and show the world that I was once a monster. Faced with blackmail like that, I couldn't refuse. And now, here I am..."

Luca was pointedly not looking at the man driving the Hummer, trying to regain control of her emotions, and the silence in the 4x4 was deadly.

Finally, as they passed through the shadow of a rock pedestal, Mr Bartlett leaned forward casually until his head was level with Lynch's. "Son?"

"Mr Bartlett?"

"Does anyone else know this? About you?"

Lynch shook his head. "No... This is my sin, to carry with me. You people, the Galactic Commanders and Saralorno are, as far as I know, the only ones who know."

Mrs Bartlett clapped her hands. "Then you have nothing to fear."

"Huh?"

"It's simple, Mr Lynch. You obviously trust us with this knowledge, and we shall keep it a secret- we will honour your confession. But you should run no more. Put your past behind you, do not seek redemption through unnecessary nobility, and start again. Clear your mind and live your life free of this secret, and in time, you will redeem yourself without even knowing."

The mercenary seemed to nearly choke, the slightest fraction of a tear welling up in the corner of his eye. "But I can't! This is too great to leave behind..."

"Then you have no hope, youngster," Mr Bartlett said, the old man shaking his head sorrowfully. "Only when you truly move on and put everything behind you can you go on to become a better man. Until then, you are doomed."

The silence returned to the Hummer once more, but this was punctuated by the sliding of the wheels across the sand as Lynch applied the brakes, slowing down and stopping at long last.

"We're here," Ronnie said, tired, sliding out of her door and somehow managing to shiver as the heat hit her. "The Relic Castle. I so hope Giallo's plan works..."

The black Hummer and its inhabitants now lay in the shadow of the crumbling ruin that had became synonymous with the Desert itself. The pillars were now flaking, baked completely dry by the never resting sun, and the rock that the Castle was hewn from was startlingly bright, caught in the glare of the sunlight. The old, dusty wreckage of a once mighty building, caught in the light of a new day, a new era, a new battle against an old enemy of the Desert. It was actually starting to look more alive, and less shadowy and forbidding.

Aaron's attention however, as he strode across the loose and somehow cooler sand in the shade of the Castle, was focused on four familiar shapes, rising up formidably in battle poses to protect their home and their palace from all invaders, a timeless reminder of the battles that once ravaged the Desert. "The Darmanitan..."

Luca looked up critically at the statues, as Sceptile prodded one with a claw. "Are you sure your friend Giallo was right? How can a statue be alive?"

"I don't know," Ronnie replied, as she stood beside Aaron and Luca to gaze up at them. "But I trust Giallo, and to be honest we don't have a better plan... Aaron?"

Aaron said nothing, and as Lynch appeared behind him, fiddling anxiously with the many lethal weapons that he held, he reached into the pocket of his trenchcoat, still defiantly on despite the blazing heat. From the pocket came four brightly-wrapped bars, declaring loud and proud what they were to the world...

"RageCandyBars," Mr Bartlett read, squinting. "This is ludicrous. How do you wake a statue up with one of these?"

"Beats me," Aaron said, as Sceptile shrugged. "But I trust Giallo with this. And hey, they are the most calorific, energetic food items known to man. If they don't work, what will?" And with that, he tore a corner from each bar and threw them into the air between the statues...

With a 'whoomph', the bars snapped into different positions into midair, one hovering over to each Darmanitan statue, conveniently right before the mouth of the statues themselves. Then the bars, unbelievably, started to glow with a brightness that rivalled the overhead sun, spinning around in the air like a sugary supernova, before with a pop they vanished...

For a brief moment the Castle was still. And then, with the cracking of ancient stone, arms broke through the rock of the statues, figures erupting out with an unrivalled fury and morphing from their traditional Zen Mode into a better fighting form as they surrounded the group...

One of the Darmanitan established itself as leader and approached Aaron, still at the head of the group of survivors, still in his throwing pose.

"Tan?!" it said, rather angrily.

"Oh jeez," Lynch muttered, tightening his grip on his AK. "They're pissed with us."

Aaron remained calm. "We woke you because we need your help. Help against the Death Worm."

The brow of the Darmanitan furrowed, and it started to growl. "Darrr..."

"It's awake," Aaron continued, "and it won't stop killing. I beg of you, please, help us!"

The Darmanitan before him roared suddenly, as did the others, and their long fiery eyebrows suddenly ignited, focusing at Aaron.

"What?" he asked, confused and worried, as one of them started to gather fire in its paws. Then it dawned horribly on him- they weren't looking at him. They were looking behind him and the others...

A long shadow fell across the group as the sands behind them erupted ferociously, the Death Worm spilling out behind them in all of the mutant Scolipede's majestic and malevolent glory. With a shriek, it screamed out to the skies, having found the ones who escaped it, before it yelled again, but this time in pain, as several Fire attacks from the guardian Darmanitan hit home, hard.

"Oh shit!" Aaron yelled, panicking all of a sudden, as an enormous brawl and free-for-all erupted around him, as his friends froze, too frightened to flee. "Death Worm! Run! RUN!"

**A/N: Woo, the Worm is back! :D such an evil creation of mine. And such a sadly evil past to Mr Lynch too! Bet none of you saw that one coming... except possibly Canadian Sasquatch, who is genuinely psychic! :)**

**Next chapter- The fight against the Worm erupts for good, but who will rise, and who will fall, and who will find a way to potentially escape the wrath of the Death Worm? Coming soon...**

**Thank you all so very much so far for your support and for reading this! A review is always appreciated, especially the ones I've had so far, and until next time, adios amigos! :D**

**Sharkness**


	9. Carnage

**A/N: Nearly two weeks of not updating this story. Its shameful folks, and I'm sorry. Personal problems and exams aside, I should really make an effort to get over my block, and I haven't been. My apologies. But now, Chapter 9 is up! :D**

**So last chapter (a while back I know) we learned a bit more about the mysterious, enigmatic mercenary Lynch (essentially- he was a VERY naughty man), and despite our heroes' best efforts to escape, the Worm caught up with them. But now, in this carnage, what the hell is going to happen? Well, let's find out, shall we? On with the show...**

The open space in front of the dusty ruins of the Relic Castle had once been a proud and beautiful courtyard, a garden whose majesty was worthy of the awe-inspiring palace which had once been the home of the human population in Unova. From this Castle humanity had expanded and developed to take control of the region, but the advanced civilisation of the Castle remained far superior to any other settlement, and had always remained the true paradise, the true haven for everybody. Yet now the power of time had laid waste to what had once been a wonderful Eden, and now it lay in ruin, wreckage of a former brilliance, the once-verdant garden now just a dusty plateau eroded by the deathly winds.

Now however it wasn't the ravages of time that were destroying what was left of the Castle, obliterating the last reminder of Unova's heritage. Now the scourge of the Desert had awoken, and had arrived at the place where it had fought the human invaders of its homeland over two thousand years before. In the past, the residents of the Relic Castle had frequently battled with the Death Worm, the tyrant of the dunes; now, even though the Castle's inhabitants had left and died long ago, the battle had returned to where it had all began...

The barren sands of the courtyard erupted ferociously as all around the entrance of the Castle a monstrous battle had erupted. The mutant Scolipede had suddenly emerged into the world from beneath the dunes, from the hunting grounds that it stalked, and the gathering around the Relic Castle had been stunned by its ferocity and speed. Yet now they were regrouping, and fighting back, and now it was time to take on the Worm...

Aaron's immediate instinct when entering a battle would have normally been to throw out Sceptile into the fray as his most powerful Pokemon, or perhaps Heracross or Banette depending on the strengths/weaknesses of his opponent. But this Death Worm was something new and unseen by him before- totally vicious, it broke most natural rules he thought evolution obeyed too, and seemed to have no weaknesses and a shedload of impossible strengths. How anything thought it anyway was beyond him, so for now he remained crouched behind the remains of a fallen pillar without drawing any of his Pokemon out.

That, from what he was currently seeing, was the best plan- as the Death Worm's poisonous bile and spit flew across the sands and began to dissolve some of the remaining stonework of the Castle, it was clear that one hit could prove fatal to a Pokemon or a human. Plus there was the fact that every so often the monster would burrow back underground to erupt somewhere else seconds later and attempt to crush its potential victims in its mighty maw, and the fact that Aaron knew that the armour it wore would resist almost anything. To him it was clearly just a case of weathering the storm. But the others didn't think so...

The four recently awakened Darmanitan were enraged by the sight of their centuries-old foe re-emerging from its subterranean den to wreak havoc on the Castle, and with hatred as the catalyst, deep within their minds old thoughts and memories on how to deal with the threat surfaced. It had been so long, but it was all coming back to them now; this was their job, to protect their Castle, and they would not let the Worm win.

Aaron watched, amazed, as as a team the Darmanitan sprang into action. The air started to ripple as fireballs soared and impacted roughly on the armour of the Death Worm, and to Aaron's surprise they actually seemed to work. The Darmanitan knew that the armour was poisonous to the touch, and they had adapted to fight from long-range, evading the Worm's own attacks by dodging and hiding behind dislodged masonry before launching special attacks, pillars of Fire and waves of intense Psychic energy that made the Worm writhe in pain and agony. They knew what they were doing. And they meant business!

Yet it wasn't just the Darmanitan who were battling against the mutant Scolipede- Aaron appeared to be the only human not participating in the battle. Mr and Mrs Bartlett stood firm together, Mr Bartlett's faithful Chandelure hovering nearby and launching some blistering Heat Waves at the monster. Luca ducked and weaved her way through the stone graveyard that was the Castle courtyard, Minty the Riolu firing off powerful Focus Blasts ever so often (unfortunately however the Riolu was limited by his own movepool, and his lack of special-attack moves), and even Ronnie was up and battling; normally scared of nightmare monsters, Aaron's tan-skinned girlfriend had amassed the courage from somewhere to lead the charge against the Worm, her majestically powerful Altaria (her stalwart Pokemon) swooping on high to hit the vulnerable Worm from above while her Espeon remained at her feet, coolly waiting for an opportunity to launch another vicious Psychic attack at the monster. And Lynch... Lynch?

"Aaron, duck!"

Luckily for Aaron the shout came just in time, as out of the corner of his eye he saw a bright flash and ducked instinctively, throwing himself to the floor as something propelled itself through the air over his head at immense speed, a fiery tail like a comet searing his face with its heat before flaring into a huge explosion as the projectile hit the armour of the massive creature with a crack and an enormous, colossal 'boom'.

Pulling himself up and rubbing sand and stone-dust from his clothes, Aaron glared over at Lynch as the smoke from the rocket explosion covered the Desert, the Death Worm's snaking shape lost for a moment. "What the Hell was that? Are you trying to kill me?!"

"You ducked, didn't you?" Lynch replied with a yell, slowly resetting the rocket launcher and reloading with a projectile that looked large enough to take out Castelia. "You heard Sage Giallo say about an RXP-12 anti-tank rocket launcher? Well I found one."

"Anti-tank?! You could take out the entire South Coast with that thing! Giallo said it caused immense loss of life ON BOTH SIDES!"

"Do you want to beat this thing or not?" Lynch stopped mid-shout however and steadied himself on the ground, stamping a foot. "Oh shit. Look out!"

The mercenary managed to throw himself clear of the ridiculous weapon in the nick of time, as the sands were thrown up around him and a long undulating form rose up, a screech of metal clearly audible as the six jaws of the beast crushed the weapon into swiftly-corroding scrap. As soon as it emerged though the Death Worm was hit by a Psychic attack from the one-eyed Gallade that set it rocking on all of its legs, and then its armour was struck once more by a projectile from a RPG that Lynch had stashed away, poisonous globs flying off from the impact as a large hole was singed in the Worm's hide.

Aaron rolled to one side, narrowly avoiding the acidic rain as a large drop sizzled into the sand between his legs, and sprinted for new cover- all six of the Worm's beady black eyes had glared at him with malevolent intent, spotting his previous hiding place with ease and spitting more venomous bile in his direction. He was lucky- the fallen pillar which he had crouched behind started to dissolve, eaten away by the deadly secretion of the Worm. But now he was going to fight. How he didn't know...

He pounded his way across the hot sands to Luca, leaping over a sand dune and crouching down beside her on the other side, obscured from the monster's view. "What do we do?"

The Sinnohi girl looked up, an intelligent look entering eyes which were normally vibrant and sparkling with happiness. "Haven't you noticed it?"

Aaron had to raise his voice over the sudden noise of gunfire, as Lynch and the Gallade opened fire on the Worm with a barrage of assorted assault weapons that would have made many mafia bosses very jealous. "No! What?"

"It might not being going down easily, but this monster feels some serious pain! The damage isn't visible because it appears to have obscenely high defences and HP, but our moves are making it hurt! Super-effective damage or not, our Pokemon are taking this thing down!"

Aaron looked up and for the first time really took everything in. Luca was right; the fireballs of the rapidly-moving Darmanitan were making the beast flail and screech its God-awful scream on impact, as were the Psychic blasts from the one-eyed Gallade and Ronnie's Espeon. Even Mr Bartlett's Chandelure seemed to be doing some damage to the Worm, and for the first time under relentless bombardment the monster appeared a little less vicious and a little weaker.

He turned, and smiled for the first time in what seemed like an age. "You're right... We're actually turning the tide of battle..." He was cut off by a familiar scream, and he wheeled on the spot in terror. "Ronnie!"

Ronnie had thrown herself into the worst part of the battle without a care in the world; normally afraid of nightmares, she was determined to defeat this one to avenge the death of Damien (even though he had creeped her out) and to protect Aaron. Yet now she was starting to regret it, as Altaria was nearly taken out as it soared by a rogue Discharge attack from the evolutionarily-broken Pokemonster, and as Espeon was nearly flattened by flying debris from the ruins, and now she had been beaten. Rising up from beneath the sands as it tunnelled, the sheer force of the Worm threw her up into the air, sailing across the courtyard to impact roughly on a pillar base, her now-unconscious Espeon landing beside her with a thump.

Aaron's face became horrified as he rose up instantly to charge towards Ronnie, fearing that she had been severely hurt when she hit the masonry and worried whether the impact had been enough to transfer some of the mutant Scolipede's poison onto her skin; the foul purple liquid gathered not only on its horns and claws but as a sticky third layer of armour. "Ronnie!"

Lynch's head popped up from behind a dune in a distance as he saw Ronnie falling through the air, and rather than waste time with his jaw dropping the mercenary raced over to the girl and hauled her upright, pulling a black scarf from around his neck to wrap it around the top of her head where a large gash was bleeding. "You alright?"

Ronnie winced as she staggered forwards, pulled rapidly along by the fleeing Lynch, and recalled her KOed Espeon on the run. "Y-yeah, sort of. I think one of my ribs is broken..." Then she paused. "Oh my God... Aaron!"

Ploughing onwards with his head down, Aaron's head snapped up as he realised three vital things. One, the girlfriend that he was running to save was alright, and out of the way. Two, the one-eyed Gallade was spraying a hell of a lot of bullets in his direction from the mouth of an AK, and he rolled to avoid several that fizzed over his head. And two, if the Gallade was firing in his direction, then that meant...

The Death Worm swayed a little as the latest Flamethrower from the group of Darmanitan hit home, before all six eyes looked down and focused on the human was trying desperately to slow his run towards it. As Aaron scrabbled on the loose sand, trying to get a purchase to turn and run away with, the immense mouth of the fifty-foot Bug-type monster opened wide, six rows of teeth arranged in a sinister smile as it lunged for him...

Only to be struck between the eyes by a fizzling ball of blue energy that made it rear up and writhe in pain.

"Yeah! How do you like that?"

Aaron stopped, his jaw dropped. "Luca?!"

The pink-haired girl grinned widely, blue fire the same colour as the attack that just saved Aaron flickering around her hands as her Riolu Minty smiled happily on her shoulder. "Come on Aaron! Run!"

He didn't hesitate, sprinting towards Luca, Lynch and his girlfriend who turned and started to run for the Relic Castle itself. "Luca, how the Hell did you do that? What the Hell is it?!"

Luca shook her hands, blowing out the blue fire. "Aura manipulation? It's easy! Get a strong enough bond between a girl and her Riolu and anything is possible!" Despite the situation her grin grew. "Besides, I'm a proficient martial artist with a Pokemon who reads Aura and a telepathic bond. You didn't really think I couldn't use Aura, did you?"

Ronnie shook her head, a pained expression on it. "You are unbelievable..."

"I don't suppose you have a plan for us as well as some fancy Aura powers?" Lynch commented drily, casually reloading on the run.

"Well," Luca gasped, as she slid over the side of a large dune with ease and remarkable agility while running at speed, "haven't you noticed? The Worm will go after us, but two of the Darmanitan who are doing the most damage are loitering in plain sight... in the entrance to the Castle."

"And yet it won't attack them..." Aaron mused, before his eyes flashed and realisation dawned. "Ah-hah!"

Luca nodded, smiling as Mr and Mrs Bartlett joined the running crowd and as a pissed and blatantly fed-up Death Worm dived down into the sands with a screech. "Yeah! The Worm is afraid of the creature in the Castle, the 'deity' that Andrea mentioned, and won't touch the Castle. It doesn't want to incur the wrath of the guardian!"

"So we keep going!" Mr Bartlett rasped, in a voice made hoarse by the flying sands and his constant battle shouts to his Chandelure. "Make it to the Castle!"

"Yeah!" Ronnie shouted, firmly. "We can't run, but we can hide! I..."

Ronnie's inspirational speech on the current tactical plans was unfortunately cut short however. It had occurred to Aaron whilst they were running that the attacks from the Darmanitan had died down, and that the Desert had suddenly become quiet when the Worm had Dug its way underground. The question was, where was it? And when would it come back up?

Suddenly everything blurred on the sweltering sands. And it wasn't just the heat mirages either. Suddenly a familiar, terrifying, undulating mass of vicious mutant Scolipede erupted from beneath the sand as the group ran, literally only a few feet to the right of Lynch as he ran. The enormous weight of the rising Pokemonster forced a lot of sand and earth to rise up with it, making the very ground buckle and shake as the beast emerged into the midday sun- Aaron and Ronnie stumbled, catching each other before they fell to the floor, while the supremely agile Luca leapt her way over the shaking earth. That wasn't the end of it though- as it broke surface the Worm slammed into several wrecked pillars that were lying in a dusty, eroding heap on the dunes, and forced them to fly into the air. Large chunks of masonry pelted down like a rainstorm with deadly intent, and with the dust and debris threatening to brutally pummel the fleeing humans and Pokemon, the Desert had turned into a warzone.

Aaron yelled as a large chunk of stone from the top of a pillar, still bearing its ornate decor despite centuries of decay, shattered into a thousand pieces before him, narrowly avoiding his head. "Holy shit! Look out guys!"

Lynch, heeding Aaron's warning, rolled into a ball to successfully dodge a wildly-spinning fragment of Castle rampart and get back up, the Aura-using Luca throwing up a shield of flickering blue fire that deflected the blasts of rock as she ran, while the Darmanitan and one-eyed Gallade settled for punching their way through every piece of stone possible. But as for Mr and Mrs Bartlett...

A large slab of pillar about the size of a Metagross, launched into the air by the collision with the Death Worm, soared through the sky like a comet trailing the remnants of the great heritage of the Castle before crashing down with a thunderous impact that made the ground shake and launched a miniature shock wave in its vicinity. This impact about a foot in front of the hobbling old people made the ground shake for them harder than even the mighty mutant Scolipede could manage, and Mr and Mrs Bartlett fell, slamming into the ground hard, separated from the group.

Reaching the entrance hall of the ruined Castle, Aaron turned to see what had happened as he heard the impact, and his eyes widened. "No! God no! NOOOOO!"

Completely disregarding the screams of anguish from the Relic Castle, and gritting all six rows of teeth as desperate attacks from the Castle rained down on its hide, the Worm loomed suddenly, towering over Mr and Mrs Bartlett, emerging through the dust clouds and miniature sandstorms brewing to clamp its jaws tightly down on Mrs Bartlett's re-attached prosthetic leg again, pulling at it to try and pull the old woman away but failing to go anywhere, as Mr Bartlett held on firm to his wife's hand and as the leg wouldn't come off of her.

Mrs Bartlett looked tearful as she looked up at her madly-pulling husband, scrabbling to prevent the Worm from pulling his beloved wife away. "Go Jim! Save yourself!"

"Never!" Mr Bartlett yelled, grimacing at the pain, renewing his efforts. "I'm not leaving you Ellie!"

"You have to Jim," she choked, the tears too strong for her to hold back now. "I'm going to die... You can't save me, but you can save yourself!"

"No Ellie!"

Yet Mr Bartlett's pitiful shouts of desperation were ignored by the Worm, and with one final wrench of its huge body it showed how strong it really was, how it had only been pretending to be struggling against the old man. Still tightly clutching onto his wife, Mr Bartlett screamed in rage and despair as Ellie Bartlett was simply ripped away from him by the creature- in a sickening twist, his grip on his wife's arm was enough to result in it being torn from its socket as the Worm yanked the rest of his wife away from him. Left holding the bloody and mangled arm of his wife as the creature bit down on her body with a horrifying crunch and crushed her to pieces, the old man shrieked, before throwing the last remaining piece of Mrs Bartlett into the dunes and running for the cover of the Relic Castle, his last hope...

"Come on!" Luca yelled, a hoarse edge of emotion audible in her voice as the horror of the situation got to her.

Aaron stifled a gulp, as he patted Ronnie's back, her eyes glistening with sadness. "He's not gonna make it..."

As this sudden realisation dawned on everyone in the Castle at once, several things all happened at the same time. The first was Lynch, head hung in morose sombre until now, reaching frantically for a larger weapon that would be best described as 'light artillery', attempting to get it set up for when the Worm charged. The second was Aaron's hand whipping to his belt and pulling a Pokeball out, sending it spinning out into the air in an attempt to get something out to help Mr Bartlett. The third thing was the old man himself leaping into the air with uncharacteristic agility (perhaps brought on by a sudden, incredible adrenaline surge fueled by rage and loss) to hurdle a pillar, as the Darmanitan launched four fireballs that fizzled short of the monster Scolipede, one nearly setting fire to the terrified old man fleeing its wrath. And the fourth was the actual monster itself- turning as it finished feeding on Mrs Bartlett to see its other potential victim fleeing, the Worm screeched as it reared up high on its very hind legs, its long snaking form blotting out the sun itself for a few moments as something formed in its mouth...

The purple projectile sizzled through the air with all the potency of Lynch's heavy weapon, and the glob of poisonous bile actually hit the fired missile first, absorbing it in its mass and completely corroding the weapon into toxic rust before it passed on unaffected. But the missile wasn't its true target, and with unerring aim the Worm's attack hit home...

As the purple poison struck its deadly blow, Mr Bartlett screamed, a long, drawn-out and agonising wail of true pain, his skin instantly blistering red from the sheer force of the attack and the sheer acidity of the venom. Loose droplets sizzled on the sand inches from the feet of the others, eating into the skeleton that was the Relic Castle, but the damage was done to Mr Bartlett, and there was nothing anyone could do but watch. Within a few seconds his skin had dissolved from his body, stripping much of the flesh too, and before long the scream was cut off, as the old man's bones pitched forward in a long and terrible fall before turning to a pile of grey ash at the feet of Lynch, just feet from the Relic Castle he was running to.

Ronnie threw up.

"Holy shit," Luca moaned, horrified at the sight. "What the hell is this thing?"

"I don't know," Aaron breathed, before he looked shocked at the Pokemon that had emerged from his Pokeball, having intended to send his Banette out to deal some Psychic damage. "Mantine?!"

Aaron's Mantine chirruped happily by way of a greeting, but her demeanour changed at the sight of the vicious, oncoming Death Worm- normally a support Pokemon who was Aaron's HM transport and who normally cared for the other team members, Mantine preferred not to battle. Yet now she was being forced to, against a foe she had never encountered before, and so she had to go out all guns blazing. Or in her case, foaming in a giant wave of water... "Tine!"

As the Surf attack bore down on the Worm Ronnie slipped behind Aaron, the hydrophobic girl clenching Aaron's hand harder in fear as the water surrounded everything, but it wasn't just her who felt the effects of the sudden surge of water in the normally-arid Desert. The Worm itself screamed louder and higher than anything Aaron had ever heard it do before, writhing and thrashing about in clear pain as the tsunami slammed into its side.

"What on Earth..." Lynch muttered, puzzled, before he finally got it. "Ah..."

"What?" Aaron asked, also confused.

Luca sighed. "It's easy really! Giallo told us how the Worm hibernated during the wet season, didn't he? And how a Scolipede normally found in cool forests ended up ruling a bone-dry, sweltering desert?"

"Yeah!" Ronnie said, somehow perking up at realising what was going on despite having just been throwing up, as an emboldened Mantine went all-out and launched a Hydro Pump in the direction of the cowering, suddenly fearful monster. "The Worm's afraid of water!"

Lynch frowned. "But how does that help us? I mean, we have an effective weapon to distract it, but until what?"

"I have a plan," Aaron suddenly announced, an idea surfacing in his head from a memory buried only a couple of days ago. "There's a stone slab in here that moves if you press the hieroglyphic inscription of the sun, to reveal a secret doorway. If we can get inside there we can escape from the Worm!"

"But how can we keep it up?" Luca asked, as Mantine threw another Hydro Pump and now a Psybeam attack at the monster, the sand outside the Castle pooling with water. "As soon as Mantine stops as we leave we become vulnerable!"

Lynch sighed, shouldering the artillery weapon that he was clutching. "Then I guess its time to go out with a bang..."

"What are you talking about?" Ronnie asked, before she remembered that Damien had said something similar and felt horrified. "Lynch, no!"

"Its the only way," he replied, grimly walking towards the door. "Aaron, cover me as I head for the Hummer. I'll drive off, head for cover, distract it, and buy you guys time to get into safety. Perhaps you can find the deity of the Relic Castle to help you fight the Worm. But at the very least, I shall help you three to survive."

"No Lynch!" Aaron shouted, catching the mercenary's arm as he walked off with a determined look on his face, the one-eyed Gallade looking forlorn as Lynch tried to sacrifice himself. "You can't die! We won't let you!"

"You don't have a choice!" Lynch suddenly roared back, snapping at Aaron and losing his normal cool as he pulled a pistol out to point at Aaron, while Aaron noticed that Luca remained unmoved by this emotion. "I do not deserve to live more than you! You did not commit the atrocities that I did in Sinnoh! I need to do this, to at least help someone survive before I die!"

"Lynch, we forgive you! And so will Sinnoh too!"

Lynch turned his head away to face into the sun, trying and failing to hide from Aaron the tears that trickled down his cheeks. "This is my last mission, and I will complete it. Aaron Rhodes, Ronnie Starks, Luca Aree, you are the finest people I have ever met. And don't you forget it. See you on the other side."

Aaron stood powerless to do anything as Lynch strode off, the mercenary's head hanging as he walked quickly and purposefully towards the Hummer, climbing in seconds before an errant ball of poisonous spit sizzled into the sand where he had been standing. As Mantine continued to batter the Worm with all kinds of Water attacks, the Hummer roared into life, the engine growling, a defiant shout of civilisation and humanity amidst the natural and historic chaos that was ensuing in the Castle grounds, before the wheels started bouncing on the dunes as it stumbled forward into a last dash across the dunes, the monster Scolipede it was intended to distract giving up on fighting against the tide of attacks Mantine was throwing at it and diving into a Dig attack that took it beneath the sands, in pursuit of its new prey that was trying to run...

Aaron sighed, a long drawn out sigh, and sniffed, wiping moisture from the corners of his eyes. "There goes the finest man I ever knew..."

"He's dead, isn't he?" Luca asked, hollowly.

"Why would you care?" Ronnie whispered. "You hated him for what he did..."

"He wasn't the one who did what Galactic did to my Pokemon. I know who they are. I know where they're buried. But I cannot forgive him for a similar sin..."

"That man has just killed himself for you," Aaron replied bitterly, a deadly calm falling over the humans as they walked slowly into the dusty entrance hall of the Castle, the stench of centuries of decay clear and foul, a cooler type of air inside the shady ruin than in the open of the Desert. "He took a bullet for you. He did that because he felt guilty, and wanted redemption. He wanted you to forgive him, and now as he dies for us you won't forgive him..."

Luca said nothing as the Darmanitan, led by the one-eyed Gallade, approached the slab of stone where a blazing sun that had survived the test of time was proudly engraved, the slab of stone that concealed the entrance to their escape route, to their ticket to survival, to the deity that would help them defeat the Death Worm once and for all. But the price of getting there had been high, with the loss of many a friend- the god of the Desert needed to be strong, if they were to avenge the dead and finally restore peace to the Desert...

**A/N: Mwahaha, vicious character death and tragic plot lines. I'm back in action! :D**

**Next chapter- what awaits our heroes (all three of them now) down the dark, dusty and forbidding corridors of the ruinous Relic Castle? And will a power great enough to destroy the Worm emerge? Coming soon...**

**Thanks for reading! A review is always appreciated, and until next time, adios amigos! :D**

**Sharkness**


	10. Tarik

**A/N: Personal problems are still ongoing folks. Sorry about this. First of all I have the mother of all arguments with my parents, then school starts to get more hectic (it is the worst) and now it appears two family members have cancer. Hard, stressful times... Hopefully though I shall battle on writing, even with time being short and all. Hey, Chapter 10 is up! A couple of days ago I'd have never thought this fic would make double figures. So that's good I guess :)**

**Last chapter we lost the Bartletts to the Worm, and Lynch decided to sacrifice himself to save the others from the Death Worm's wrath (selfless mercenary that he is). So now Luca, Aaron and Ronnie must venture into the Relic Castle alone, in search of a god who may not be there, and against some horrifically dark secrets of the Castle... I hope you enjoy! On with the show...**

Darkness. A musty, dank shroud that spread like thick black treacle throughout almost everything, the stench of ages and decay hanging in the air. The inky black shadows had spread everywhere, seeming to have no end in an ancient world forgotten by time. They had claimed everything. The darkness had left nothing behind.

To Aaron, it was hell. Never mind the fact that it was his idea to flee into the forbidding depths of the Relic Castle in order to escape from the Death Worm, never mind that it was his idea to open up a secret passageway and follow an unexplored tunnel into the bowels of a ruin. He was acutely claustrophobic, and as the darkness surrounded him, hemming him in and trapping him in the tunnel, his breathing became ragged, his heart racing. Beads of sweat dripped from his brow despite the shade of the stairway, despite the fact that it was much cooler than the inferno Desert outside, despite the light breeze that blew from somewhere within the ancient darkness.

Walking through these dark tunnels was proving daunting and terrifying for all concerned though, not just Aaron. Ronnie's hand clasped Aaron's tightly as Luca took the lead, ushering the two forward even though their destination was still unknown. With their other hands, the couple felt along the sandstone walls made bone-dry by centuries of being untouched by anything, yet they did so apprehensively, worried that something on those dark walls would suddenly move, or worse fight back. But in spite of this all there was one way in which their fears were put to bed a little; the Darmanitan, awoken to help them fight off the Worm, seemed to know a way through the labyrinth, and by following the lightly-glowing flames of their eyebrows the humans could see just a little into the otherwise-impenetrable darkness, the flickering facial features throwing odd moving shadows, casting eldritch images on the walls...

The wall disappeared at Aaron's fingertips, and he sighed with relief, breathing a little more of that cold, dusty air in. It was a bonus for him that there was more space, more room to move in, and as all the Darmanitan grouped together around the humans a fuzzy glow illuminated a lot of the walls for him to see. In particular the central pillar... "Wow..."

"Oh my God..." Luca breathed, echoing his awed sentiment. "That is amazing..."

What had caught their eye was situated at something akin to a crossroads, forbiddingly-shadowy tunnels branching out at all angles from a central point at which a large stone pillar was set into the ground. The square sides of this pillar had been used as an art form, images engraved delicately into the sandstone, depicting an ancient scene not seen in millennia. Yet the message of the picture was clear...

"The Worm..." Ronnie breathed, tracing a finger along lines that unmistakably carved out the shape of a giant mutant Scolipede, rearing high above the ground. "It is so old... These carvings must be over two thousand years old!"

"Two millennia of killing," Luca commented, her gaze moving along the mural. "All those little soldiers, all those people, dead at the hands of a monster. And then..." Her finger tapped against the edge, the last part of the pillar. "The flames..."

One of the Darmanitan pressed a paw forlornly against the cold stone, little embers burning brightly and lighting up the carved lines that unmistakably made up a great fire, the stylised humans around it bowing as if in worship. "Dar..."

"It's their god," Luca translated. "The deity of the Castle, the Pokemon who battled the Death Worm and defeated it."

"I guess the fire would make it Reshiram, if the legendary here is one of the Dragons of Unova," Aaron mused, yet he secretly wondered about this; after all, it was common knowledge that Reshiram was in the possession of Hilbert, the Trainer who took down Team Plasma. Would their trek across the Desert to find a Pokemon strong enough to defeat the Worm be in vain?

One of the Darmanitan coughed, having decided on something, and knuckled its way around the pillar in the middle, having decided which of the many paths. "Tan i man."

"I guess we go that way then," Aaron muttered, as he rose to her feet, but as he did so he noticed that Luca was consoling Minty the Riolu, who was shivering on her shoulder. "What's up Luca?"

"He's not cold," the fighter girl responded, touching his head. "He must be reacting to the Aura of this place..."

"But why?" Ronnie asked, as they set off following the Darmanitan. "What's wrong with this place? It seems pretty safe, if deserted..."

Luca nodded. "True. But I can feel it too. There's something buried deep within the Aura of this place, something not quiet right, and I think the Darmanitan don't know."

As they walked forward, one of the Darmanitan stooped to the floor to pick up something lying innocuously on the ground, and handed it to Ronnie. "Dar tan!"

"What is it?" she asked, turning the stick-like object over in her hands, but when she held it upright again the Darmanitan summoned a little ember that ignited the top of the stick into a bright, flickering flame. "Ah... It's a sort of primitive torch... Let's see what we can OH MY GOD!"

Aaron's head whipped round as Ronnie yelled out in panic, the torch falling to the floor and nearly extinguishing itself on the sand. "What?! What's up?!" He grabbed the torch from the floor and raised it high, to look at what Ronnie had seen, and his heart skipped a beat. "Oh my God..."

The light from the torch, burning brighter even than the eyebrows of the escort Darmanitan, had given light to the entire corridor, and for the first time the walls in which they had walked down were illuminated. Unfortunately. Rather than sandstone relic carvings, walls of creepy black obsidian had emerged from the gloom, but it was what was in the lumps of translucent black gemstone that unnerved people the most...

Mummies. Hundreds of them. The walls of the Castle were lined with the dead, in various stages of decay, sealed inside the shadowy gemstone as a final tomb. Some had full wrappings, surrounded by ancient goods and weaponry that shone with an ethereal light, whereas others hung suspended in a rotten state, flesh hanging loosely from the bones with rags that were supposed to envelope them and protect their dead bodies. The one in particular that Ronnie had been spooked by had been reduced by some unseen force to a simple skeleton, and a crack in its inky obsidian casing had resulted in air and time being able to work their devastating force on the corpse; what little flesh remained had shrivelled into a dark brown husk, and one eyeball somehow remained, sunken in the socket, glazed over in a defiant timeless glare.

"My God..." Luca said, twitching a little, and Aaron noticed how she attempted to collect Aura around her fingertips; what normally glowed blue was a sinister shade of black. "What happened to this place? These people... Why are they here?" She took a step back in disgust...

*click*

There was a rumble somewhere in the distance back down the dark corridor, and a tremor thudded its way through the ground, the group somehow clinging on to whatever they could find and staying upright. As the flame flickered and the world shook, the end of the tunnel they'd just come through seemed to move, a stone slab descending from somewhere within the ceiling to block off the tunnel, shutting the humans and Pokemon in. And then, as the torch flickered off, there was darkness...

Aaron pulled himself upright as one of the Darmanitan relit the torch. "Luca Aree what have you done?" he murmured.

In the semi-gloom, Luca shook herself. "I have no idea..." There was another rumbling, louder this time. "What was that?"

Aaron lifted the torch and peered down the end of the tunnel, to see something drop from the ceiling in front of the blockade and start to roll ominously towards them. "What the... It's a trap! SPIKE BALL! RUN!"

With a panicked yell, the party started to run downhill down the tunnel as fast as possible, to get as far away as possible from the oncoming terror. What Luca had released was almost a cliché in an ancient treasure-filled ruin, an immense and heavy stone ball from which sharp metal spikes jutted out at every angle. But there was no time to think about this; it was real, and stopping to speculate would mean death, being horribly mashed against the wall or floor by an unstoppable juggernaut that ricocheted off obsidian walls and just kept coming.

Something from the shadows whipped out at Aaron's leg and he stumbled a little, his head instinctively turning to try and see what had done it, but Ronnie was already there to catch him and stop him from falling, pulling him along before he could be flattened. Staggering slightly at the breakneck pace, he kept going regardless, the fear of the trap that Luca had unleashed propelling him onwards as the four Darmanitan knuckled their way ahead and along the passageway. Yet the ball was gaining momentum, and getting ever closer to him, practically snapping at his heels. They needed a way to escape fast...

There! Light, at the end of the tunnel, natural light streaming into a vast and open room from high windows. In other words, safety! With a yell, Aaron leapt down a ledge into the room, before Ronnie pulled him to one side as the viciously-spinning blades of the ball scythed past, narrowly missing him and taking a chunk out of the wall he was hiding behind. As it powered on, the ball clipped the hind leg of the slowest Darmanitan, but more importantly it missed everyone, ploughing into the far wall and embedding itself in it with a crunch, dust and rock fragments flying everywhere as the rumbling finally stopped and as silence fell at long last...

Ronnie, normally terrified of anything sub-lethal that sprang out to attack her, dusted herself off calmly and stepped out from behind a pillar. "Luca?"

"Yeah?" came the hesitant reply from a small stone pedestal upon which a large vase was set, glowing brightly.

"Don't set off any more traps. Please?"

Luca smiled weakly. "I'll watch where I'm stepping." She pulled herself up, her hand still remaining on the vase's surface as she gazed around at the room. "Wow..."

Opulent was an understatement. The room around them glimmered with relics, gold and silver and all manner of gemstones shining happily, a far cry from the sickening obsidian tombs. The vase Luca stood by was one of four, arranged on pedestals that stood in a line roughly in the centre of the room. While ancient dusty scrolls, intricate tapestries and a single, simple stone sarcophagus- seemingly incongruous, dull amidst the beautiful treasures- adorned the walls, the wall at one end that stood before these pedestals was adorned with a great sun in burnished gold.

"Expensive decor..." Aaron remarked, looking around in awe. "This must be a throne room or something."

"Or a shrine room, an entrance to a temple," Ronnie reasoned. "Perhaps the god of this Castle?"

"But this isn't the exact throne room," Luca said, striding over to the shimmering golden sun and tapping the side of the mural. "This is a locked door. Which means to get to the deity, we need to open the door..."

"They never make these things easy, do they?" Aaron sighed, turning to the side to the Darmanitan, huddled in conference. "Well? This is your Castle. Don't suppose you know who to unlock the doors? Or did they change them after they put you lot on permanent guard duty outside?"

The largest one, apparently the leader, tutted at Aaron's sour rudeness, pointing patiently to the glowing vase by Luca. "Dar? Tan i man DAR!"

"He says what about the vases? It's obvious, apparently," Luca said, Minty chirruping to translate. Then a huge smile came across her face. "Ah-ha! Clever girl Luca!"

"Mind sharing?" Aaron asked, as Luca strode over to an unlit vase.

"It's easy really! I touched that vase over there, and it lit up. But these ones aren't lit!" Luca half-yelled in jubilant realisation, before touching another vase to light it up. "Light them up!"

As Ronnie ran over to join Luca, Aaron stood back and noticed that as each vase lit up, a hole opened in the walls of the room and a thin beam of external light shone in, all intersecting in the middle, four beams making a perfect cross as the last vase lit up. That wasn't all though; as the vases all shone, another rumbling made Aaron leap, but it was safe. Another pedestal started to rise in the exact centre of the room, a clear indentation on its surface where something was meant to go, and the light cross' centre hung about two feet above it.

"Bingo," he said to himself, before he raised his voice. "Girls! It's a new pedestal! All we need is a keystone that fits in the slot and we are in!"

Luca smiled as she looked at it, fiddling with something around her neck. "And I know just what will fit it..."

"Is that..." Ronnie started to ask.

Luca nodded. "Uh-huh! That obsidian necklace Minty found in the Castle when Andrea took us in. I knew it would be useful somehow..."

Letting go, the obsidian gem seemed to float in the air above the pedestal's groove, all four beams of light piercing into it and making it pulse and glow as its string trailed behind it. Luca smiled, and outstretched her hand, ready to push it down...

Suddenly, all hell seemed to break loose. Like bombs dropping from the sky three shapes detached themselves from the rafters and zoomed down, sinister blue flames flickering as high-pitched giggling cackles sounded throughout the shrine. As one of the small candle-like beings reached Luca it shot a small ball of fire at her hand, searing the skin and making the fighter girl hiss, before the other two launched shadowy tendrils into her body. Minty the Riolu's Fighting attacks harmlessly shot through the body of the Ghosts, as Luca sighed and grew weak at the knees, the levitating candle-like Pokemon absorbing energy from her in a ball before shooting off.

Aaron had been stunned by the speed of it all; from start to finish the attack had lasted five seconds at most, and the three attacking Litwick had done what they do best, draining Luca of almost all her energy before leaving her severely weakened. "Luca!" He caught the girl before she fell, the Darmanitan standing helplessly beside her. "Luca, please say you're OK!"

Luca grimaced, her breathing heavy. "Yeah..." she hissed through gritted teeth, a pained expression on her face. "My God... those Litwick... were quick..."

There was a low, booming chuckle from a disembodied voice that appeared to resonate from every dark nook and cranny of the room. "Huhuhuh... At last. You have no idea how long I have waited. Millennia, alone, waiting for somebody to come down here and give me the strength to return..."

Aaron wheeled frantically. "Who are you? Show yourself!"

"Huhuhuh... Very well." The sharpness at the end of the sentence was punctuated by the Litwicks' ball of stolen energy flying across the room to a pile of treasure, slowly being absorbed into something in the pile. The stack of treasure shuddered as something rose from its depths, starting to glow and brighten up, its patterns becoming visible as two red eyes glimmering with malevolence opened for the first time...

The sarcophagus from the pile of treasure pulled itself upright with four shadowy hands on tendril arms that seemed to fade in and out of existence. Gone was its dullness and inconspicuous status- now the stone had been replaced by energised gold, the dull head crowned by ornate patterns of lapis lazuli and gold, red eyes blaring evilly from its front. And beneath the eyes lay recently-appearing vicious fangs, pure white and razor sharp...

The Cofagrigus chuckled, the echoing voice now attached to its Ghost-type form, and the Coffin Pokemon glared at the humans, the three Litwick hovering around it like ethereal cherubs. "Welcome to my palace, humans. I see you brought in the guards. Obsolete as they are..."

One of the Darmanitan's growls increased in volume at recognition of the voice, and Aaron shuddered as those red eyes swung from face to face. "Your palace? Wha... what did you do to Luca?"

Two of the four ghostly hands shrugged. "I have been waiting down here for two thousand years, since the death of this Castle. I grow old, and tired, and I need life energy to further survive, to continue at full capacity. The energy of an apprentice Aura Guardian should do nicely, for this..."

Suddenly the monstrosity flashed, its gold playing catching the sunlight as the front door of the sarcophagus swung open to reveal its insides. The face on the outside momentarily frozen, something stirred within, and slowly, with shuffling, shambling feet, something lurched out of the Cofagrigus, the door swinging shut behind it before its red eyes flared once more, and beneath the ragged bandages of the thing, amidst half-rotten flesh, two red eyes identical to those of the Cofagrigus flashed on in the head of the new being...

The mummy turned from side to side, slowly, as if relishing being sentient and physically capable once more. "Perfect.." it said, though the words were coming from the moving mouth of the Cofagrigus behind it...

"What are you?" Ronnie asked in disgust, yet she was warily backing off the advancing mummy.

"My name is King Tarik. I am.. the last King of this Castle. And..." The white fangs flashed in a malevolent smile. "I am its downfall."

"Downfall?"

"The White Hero left this Castle after he defeated the Death Worm, left it to flourish unthreatened. Yet the King was dying, and the Castle was isolated and on its own... That's where I come in." The mummy's face twitched, what must have been a grin beneath the bandages, as the Coffin Pokemon controlling it smiled savagely too. "I was a Dark Knight, feared across the land for my ability. And I stormed the Castle, killed the King, and enslaved the population as my own..."

"You bastard..." Ronnie said with feeling.

The remnants of Tarik ignored her. "The mummies you saw in the obsidian? My victims. The cursed earth outside? That is what I did to the fertile farmlands that fed this citadel. Civilisation crumbled beneath my feet. And then..." The Cofagrigus' grin evaporated. "The White Hero returned to retake the Castle and defeat me. As a precaution, I locked myself in my ceremonial sarcophagus, to survive the fight; one of my loyal generals would release me once battle was finished."

"Let me guess," Aaron said. "They never released you?"

There was an inhuman snarl from the Coffin Pokemon. "My soldiers were slaughtered! And those who survived left me to starve and die down here, locked in a coffin in a locked shrine room forever! They betrayed me! The Castle was uninhabitable due to my destruction, and soon even the White Hero abandoned it, but I remained, weak enough in death to be incapable of escape, longing for my freedom!"

"And this is where we come in, I guess?" Ronnie asked.

Tarik's Cofagrigus regained his demonic smile, as more Litwick descended from on high to be joined by Yamask, the prevolution of Cofagrigus. "Huhuhuh! Humanity left me to die, but the Ghosts and the darkness are my allies. The Litwick stole your energy to revive me, and I will destroy this wretched ruin once and for all. You will provide me the energy, with your blood and your flesh and your lives; Cofagrigus are quite partial to human meat. And I will rise once more, my army of Ghosts ready to destroy what civilisation humanity has left! They betrayed me and they will pay!"

"No we won't."

The red eyes of the Cofagrigus of King Tarik, boiling with rage and hatred, rose to meet the defiant glare of a weak Luca Aree, holding herself upright against the pedestal with one hand raised in the air. Somehow though, despite the fury of centuries, the Coffin Pokemon couldn't overpower Luca's glare, as blue energy started to glow around her hand. "I beg your pardon?!"

"No we won't," Luca repeated slowly, a determined edge to her voice cutting through the air as the ball of Aura in her palm grew and pulsed. "This is the end of your tyrannical reign, Tarik. This ends now." She flicked her wrist...

The ball of Aura in her hand flew straight and true through the air, sizzling with an edge of anger and determination to beat Tarik. But the Cofagrigus was not the target, and nor was the mummy; Fighting-type Aura would have little effect, and Luca knew that. Instead, she had aimed for the black obsidian gem floating in midair, flickering with the light of the sun, and the impact caused a colossal boom that shook the pillars of the shrine room. From the depths of the crystal the Aura shot was magnified in power, all of the light streaming in and piercing into the obsidian combining with the Aura projectile to form an intense beam of energy, light wavelengths flickering from black to white in a horrifically strong strobe effect. Tarik's red eyes glowed and widened as he realised what had been done, and the demonic Cofagrigus screamed, a terrifying banshee-like wail that proved to be his final act as the beam of energy struck the gold casing of the Coffin and threw a golden light all across the shrine room in a massive explosion which made the treasure glimmer and shine...

Shielding his eyes from the glare as light still shone from the piles of precious metals, Aaron pulled himself up onto his feet to see the scene. Having hit the Cofagrigus head-on, the pure energy had obliterated Tarik, the golden sarcophagus reduced to ash while his mummy, no longer animated by the vengeful spirit within the Coffin Pokemon, collapsed onto the floor, its skeleton snapping and its body disintegrating into barely recognisable fragments.

He said nothing however. No victorious speech, no smart jibe at the defeated enemy; instead, he merely slammed his hand down onto the still-glowing crystal, forcing it down out of the light to land in the slot it was designed for. His hand burned a little from touching the white-hot gem, and he hissed in pain, but it was done, and now the temple would open entirely...

As the door slid back the golden sun gleamed, light streaming in from outside and illuminating the entire room. Tarik's Ghosts, now without a leader to unite them, shivered and shrieked, trying to dissolve back into the darkness they had come from, but most evaporated in the light that came in from the unlocked room, pure white light that pierced every Ghost and left no shadow in the corner behind.

Something was stirring in that light though, and as Aaron shielded his eyes once more, as the last of the Litwick disappeared into the world of spirits, the light started to dim a little. No more would blinding light comparable to the sun fill their world. Now it was time to gaze on the god of the Desert, the deity of the Relic Castle, the ruler of the sands. Now it was time to find the worthiest enemy of the Death Worm and rekindle a centuries-old battle to save humanity from the mutant Scolipede's destruction. Now it was time to turn the tide of battle in their favour...

**A/N: Hell yeah! :D mummies galore in that one! I just couldn't pass up the opportunity to write mummies and Cofagrigus, not in an environment like the Relic Castle, where you'd expect that sort of history. Tarik and his evil past were meant to be key features in a future story I was planning, but I want to focus more on this story and the Detective Looker series I am writing, so I incorporated Tarik into it all. Hope you liked him!**

**Next Chapter: Finally... A god is unmasked... But will our heroes' quest to find a champion to take on the Worm's might be in vain? Coming soon...**

**Thanks for being patient with me waiting for an update folks, and thanks for reading! A review is always appreciated, and until next time, adios amigos! :D**

**Sharkness**


	11. Divine Intervention

**A/N: I owe you all a massive apology. I'm truly sorry for being gone for so long, especially after all I've said about promising to get regular updates and to not let my life get in my way. Well, to tell you the truth.. Life has been hard in the past few days, I'm not going to lie. I thought being off school for study leave would leave some time for writing between exams and revision, but I was wrong. I'm sorry about everything, and I shall try to work harder for you all..**

**Last chapter, if you can remember that far back, we met the undead menace of Tarik, who isn't even the real enemy yet still managed to nearly kill our heroes. But in spite of that we lost sight of our heroes' goal- to find the god in the Relic Castle and to get its help against the Death Worm. Will they succeed in this goal? Well, let's see, shall we?**

For the briefest of moments in the Relic Castle's treasure room and shrine to the gods, there was nothing but the light. No corner was left untouched by it, no crack left unexplored, no golden relic left in the darkness, just simple, pure light. The bright white light seemed to spill in endless waves from within the now-unlocked secret room, turning that brief moment into timelessness as it stripped away all illusions and became everything, a vacuum, a void of just the white. And then, slowly, gradually, it began to pale and reveal everything to the people in the room..

From his position lying prone on the floor having been knocked down when the light suddenly blasted into the room, exhausted both physically and mentally, Aaron Rhodes' outstretched arm provided the slightest protection for his eyes from the light. As it started to dim his eyes flickered over his immediate surroundings, taking in how dusty his clothes had been left by desert sand and centuries-old ash, how frayed edges seemed to have appeared on previously-pristine clothes, how scratches and tatter-like scars appeared to spread up his arms. He hadn't realised it, having been running on adrenaline (and running for his life) almost every single moment since he had arrived in the Desert Resort, but he was a mess, almost a complete wreck. Survival had been the only thing on his mind, and survival had taken its toll on him.

He pulled himself upright with the use of the pedestal in the middle of the room, his arms aching as he did so, and he stretched himself out as the light reached a manageable level, about as bright as the normal desert sun. With a slight intake of breath, he ran a finger along the burn to his palm from where he had slammed the red-hot obsidian gem into the pedestal to unlock whatever was inside. Dust stirred at his feet as he kicked absent-mindedly at nothing in particular, getting the giddy feel left by the light out of his mind, and he turned to his left ever so slightly, slowly at first as dizziness fought back.

"Ronnie?" he asked out loud, in a voice that remained surprisingly strong after all he had been through, but the cracked and hoarse edge was there in the background; thirst and tiredness were finally starting to rear their ugly heads.

Ronnie looked surprisingly fit and able and ready to go, given the trauma of the past few days and (in particular) the last few hours. But the signs were clear, a weary look in her normally piercing green eyes and large black bags of tiredness made clear as she turned to look at her boyfriend. "Aaron.. We did it.."

He nodded with relief that flooded his entire body and made him shake a little. "We did it.. We beat Tarik.." Then the ghost of a smile that had formed faded. "And he isn't even our enemy.."

Ronnie, despite everything, smiled, laughing a little at the desperation of their situation. "We came here to find a god to help us fight the Death Worm, and ended up fighting another monster."

Aaron shook his head, disbelieving. "This always happens to us.. Two hard monsters to fight.."

"At least this one is down," came a voice from the wall of the shrine room.

Both Aaron and Ronnie turned to see Luca, pale as the Ghosts they had just fought but with a fire gleaming in her eyes, push herself forwards from where she was leaning against the wall. After all the effort she'd put into using her Aura and all the energy that had been stolen from her by the Litwick, Aaron had expected the bubblegum-haired girl to be sliding down the wall with weariness- somehow she remained cool, and apparently ready to fight more monsters. "Luca.. You saved us.."

Luca smiled, wrapping her arms around both of them in a bearhug, as Minty the Riolu on her shoulder stretched himself with a clicking of joints. "It was nothing. You guys would do the same for me, so I helped there." She kicked at the ground beside her, and there was a clanging sound as the golden mask from the front of a Cofagrigus, the last remnant of the psychotic mummy King Tarik, bounced away across the floor. "He won't be coming back anytime soon."

"I hope so," Aaron said, shaking his head. "I've decided I really don't like mummies anymore."

"Vol..."

Ronnie stiffened as she heard the sound, a long and pitiful cry that resonated with loneliness and seemed to come from the source of the light. "Did you hear that?"

Aaron nodded, the forlorn and quiet cry on the very edge of hearing but very much there. "I heard it." He turned to see the 4 guard Darmanitan, somehow completely unaffected by the wrath of Tarik and somehow oblivious to the nausea-inducing effects of the light, bowing towards the secret room that had been unlocked by the obsidian gem's placement on the pedestal, an ethereal chant of no recognisable Pokemon language escaping their lips. "I think we may have found our god."

Luca nodded. "Shall we?"

In silent agreement, the trio of humans edges forward, closer and closer to the hidden room in the temple, the shrine room of the palace of the Relic Castle. After so long, they would finally learn the identity of the god, the deity with the power of the Sun itself that had assisted the White Hero in the defeat of the Death Worm all those years ago..

As they turned around the corner and gazed upon the majestic being, Aaron finally realised the truth behind the god. The hieroglyphs and the tapestries of the Castle had all referenced a blazing sun, allegedly referring to that as the great power, and the humans had falsely assumed that this being of fire was the Dragon of Truth itself Reshiram. That had confused Aaron the most- after all, everyone knew how Hilbert Grey had liberated Reshiram from the Light Stone, before befriending it and assisting it in stopping Team Plasma for taking over Unova. If they were going after a god in the Relic Castle, then surely Reshiram was already gone? Not least the fact that the White Hero of the past had arrived with Reshiram, meaning the god had to be another Legendary, but which one?

That however, he realised, was a huge assumption. He had overlooked the simple fact of Pokemon training that not every powerful Pokemon came from the Hall of Origin, and everything clicked into place; in the ancient world, one Pokemon with immense power had risen to such a level of reverence that it had become a god. It wasn't a Legendary, it wasn't a Dragon, it was literally as the tapestries had said- the Sun itself. The Sun Pokemon had ruled over the Desert, the greatest Pokemon in the land, the vanquisher of the Death Worm...

The world seemed to shimmer as a sea of fiery scales floated in midair, scattered across the shrine room, the source of the glimmering white light that filled everything. But something was wrong- these ember scales should have been constantly produced, they should have been continuously spread by the serenely graceful flapping of six majestic orange wings that surrounded the Pokemon in the middle of the room in an orange corona, a halo of light. But they weren't...

"There's something wrong," Aaron said in a hushed whisper, taking in the scene. "I've never seen any Pokemon like this before.."

"That's a Volcarona?" Ronnie breathed as she gazed at the creature in the middle of the room, the subject of the Darmanitan's reverence.

There was a click, and an unnecessarily bright female voice came on from the speakers of the device Luca was pointing at the god. "Volcarona, the Sun Pokemon, and the evolved form of Larvesta!"

Aaron turned as Luca, having confirmed that the god was Volcarona, clicked the volume of her Pokedex down. He noticed that as the loud sudden noise came on the Volcarona seemed to twitch ever so slightly, the normally iridescent blue compound eyes dull but widening in fright as it took in its visitors. "Luca, you'll scare it!"

She held up a hand defensively in response. "Hey, I'm just checking on it! If you'd like to know, it has one HP left, yet full PP..."

"You can check that with a Pokedex?" Ronnie said, retreating round the corner and looking at Luca with a questioning face as the Sun Pokemon feebly shook itself, crying pitifully.

The girl nodded. "Most people don't know how though. I'd say something stole most of its health while it was imprisoned there..."

"Wait, imprisoned?" Now it was Aaron's turn to be surprised.

Luca sighed. "Can't you see the chains?" She pointed, and indeed, Aaron could see thick black chains holding the injured Pokemon to the back wall, restraining its wings. "I bet while he was down here, trapped, Tarik imprisoned it to prevent it from helping fight off his own army. Considering it hasn't lost PP, it wasn't fighting Tarik, and hasn't been able to, so.."

"So?" Aaron and Ronnie both echoed.

Luca clicked her fingers. "That's how Tarik has managed to survive this long- he's been draining off the life energy and HP of Volcarona. He used it to come back from the afterlife, to anchor himself here as a Ghost in order to wait for more to come.."

Aaron looked at the Sun Pokemon with pitying eyes. "Two thousand years as an energy drain for a monster.. It must be strong if it survived this long.." Then his eyes hardened. "We must do something for it, we must help it!"

"Aaron...?" Ronnie asked, as her boyfriend turned towards the former god, hands deep in his Bag searching for something. Then her eyes widened with alarm, as suddenly one of the Darmanitan leapt from its worshipping position with a snarl to tackle him to the floor, pinning him down and glaring at him while its flaming eyebrows blazed even harder than before. "What the hell?!"

"DAR MAN DAR DAR TAN!" the Blazing Pokemon yelled furiously, ferociously, with something almost maddening in the depths of its eyes.

Minty the Riolu's eye twitched as, still on Luca's shoulder, he tried to keep up with the Darmanitan's ravings and translated to his mistress.

Luca narrowed her eyes. "You.. must not touch It's Eminence.. It is a crime worse.. than murder.. Are you for real?" The girl turned to glare angrily at the Pokemon. "It's Eminence is sick, nearly dead, and you won't let him intervene to save its life?!"

"DAR dar man itan.."

"We cannot heal it, we protect it. Our duty is to stop it from being harmed, oh really? You didn't do a good job of it, did you?! You got frozen into statues and let Tarik slowly siphon off your god's life force to stay alive! How do you feel about that?"

The Darmanitan was, from what the humans had seen, the toughest of the four guards and the leader of the group, yet somehow its cool evaporated as Luca advanced, a bead of sweat forming on its brow. "Dar.."

"You failed, didn't you?" she said, prodding it angrily in the chest. "Now step aside and let someone else save your god!"

For a moment the Darmanitan appeared to quite literally flare up even more in anger, but as Luca's glare turned more piercing it became unsure, looking nervously over to its unseeing brethren and back again like a Buneary in the headlights. Finally, after what seemed like an age, the Blazing Pokemon stepped back off of Aaron's chest and skulked back over to its chanting brothers, joining in the chant but warily and apprehensively shooting glances at Luca every so often.

Aaron pulled himself upright again, noticing the tattered scratches left in his T-shirt by the Darmanitan's claws, and unfurled his clenched fist to reveal a small bottle. "Thank God I always carry a Full Restore around. I never imagined when I bought it I would be using it like this though..."

Stepping over the four grovelling Fire-types to a growl from one of them, he approached Volcarona anxiously, concerned how dim the blue eyes appeared to be compared to how bright the twinkling scales of fire were around it. "Volcarona.."

The Sun Pokemon, a fallen god of a forgotten kingdom, left to rot and waste in the darkness of the ruins by an evil who wished to see it all perish, lifted its head and shivered painfully. "Rona.."

Aaron took a deep breath as he looked into the deep eyes, the sadness all too clear. "You've been trapped by a monster all this time, all alone down here. We're here to help."

As Aaron placed his hand in the fuzzy white fur on the Bug's body, it felt so cold to the touch, not warm like any Fire-type should be- Volcarona was weak. But as Aaron crouched down to open up and apply the Full Restore, Volcarona shook all of a sudden, not from its pain, but from wild fear that had suddenly appeared in its eyes. "Vol vol ca!"

Aaron stopped halfway through unscrewing the bottle, and jumped back from the Pokemon, feebly struggling against the heavy metal bonds. "Luca.. What's up?"

Pausing briefly, Luca looked concerned as she translated. "It's scared.. But what of? What are you scared of, Volcarona, we're here to help you.."

"Rona.."

"Her.." Luca's head whipped up and looked at Ronnie, looking shocked from what the Sun Pokemon had just said. "Tarik.. I don't believe it.."

"Believe what?" Ronnie said, looking anxious, backing away a little from Volcarona which had, by now, worn itself out and had slumped back in its chains.

Luca paused, disbelieving. "It appears.. the Cofagrigus we just fought, the evil Dark Knight.. It appears you are of Tarik's bloodline. You are family."

Ronnie looked stunned. "No way!"

Aaron meanwhile crouched back down in front of the weakened Pokemon, trying to soothe it by rubbing its fluff. "Shh.. You think she's like her ancestor, don't you? You're worried she'll finish the job.."

Volcarona looked up at him with those soulful blue eyes. "Vol.."

Aaron shook his head. "Believe me, she's almost the exact opposite of her ancestor. She's my girlfriend, and I love her to bits Volcarona- we trust each other until the end, we would fight to the death for each other." He paused. "And we've had to.."

The Sun Pokemon tilted its head to one side, the light from the fiery scales reflected in the compound eyes. "Carona?"

Aaron nodded, sighing. "We came here to find you Volcarona because we need your help. We fought Tarik to get to you, and nearly died down here, but we've nearly been killed so many times in the past few days, by another far greater monster.."

"I believe you've heard of the Death Worm?" Luca asked. "After all, you're the Sun God who vanquished it so long ago.."

Aaron tried not to smile at the angry fire and rage that lit in Volcarona's eyes in that instance, at the growl that arose from the Sun Pokemon's lips that rivalled the growl of the Darmanitan. Even in its weakened state its anger was clear. "You are the strongest Pokemon in the desert, the only one who can fight the Worm. We've tried, and failed, and we are lucky to be here, but we need your help. If we heal you, will you help us?"

Volcarona's head turned to him, the entire body of the Bug/Fire type straining suddenly against its chains, so ready to go and fight, and it nodded with renewed energy. "Vol CA!"

"Thank God for that," Ronnie said, smiling at the Sun Pokemon. "Thank you!"

For a moment Volcarona appeared unsure, but then a ghost of a smile appeared on its face, and it chirped happily. "Vol!" Then, as Aaron finally applied the Full Restore, the shivers of pain became happier, the glow of the Sun Pokemon seeming to intensify, more fiery scales firing from its wings and joining the sea of light as the light became even more blinding, Volcarona and the crouched Aaron at the centre...

With a snap, the metal prison flew off the Sun Pokemon as it surged out of its millennia-old chains, nearly striking Ronnie in the head as they whirled past and buried themselves in the wall of the room. Volcarona's six wings were now emanating their own incredible pure light, the fiery scales dancing joyfully in the room as the four Darmanitan blazed harder than ever before in victory. The blue compound eyes, once dim with defeat, now shimmered with life, but the fire still blazed in their depths, the fire of determination- it was going to defeat the Death Worm.

The Bug gave a gleeful chirrup, finally free after so long, and wrapped its wings around Aaron in an exceptionally grateful hug. "Rona vol ca!"

"No problem," he said with a smile as the heat spread through his body and energised him- any tiredness and fatigue from the long days was instantly washed away. "Are you ready to fight the Death Worm?"

"VOLCA!" the Pokemon cried in response, before, hovering in midair, it moved back from Aaron and began to spin slowly, a ring of fiery scales surrounding itself in a beautiful dance that made the Sun Pokemon look even more powerful and graceful than before..

"Quiver Dance," Luca said in a hushed voice. "Its beautiful.. And it's ready to fight when it starts its dance.."

Volcarona gradually stopped its light dance, the twinkling scales around it still orbiting it like a million stars, and turned to the four Darmanitan with a look of determination. Lining up with two on either side of the Sun Pokemon, the Blazing Pokemon roared fiercely and defiantly, their eyebrows blazing even harder, before all five Pokemon shot fire at the wall..

The resulting explosion seemed not to affect them, but the shockwave knocked the three humans to the floor. Yet as Aaron pulled himself up, he saw it was a deliberate move- the fireball had blown open a secret passageway behind the temple wall, a passageway that appeared to lead a long way out towards a door around of the corners of which natural light seeped in.

He smiled, seeing the natural light of the world for what seemed like the first time in ages after the experiences of the shrine room, and slowly began to walk forwards towards that door. He stopped, waiting, and turned to look at Volcarona, expectant. Both Pokemon and human shared a warm smile, ready to do what they had to, and Volcarona flew forwards gently, at the head of the group. Behind the Sun Pokemon Aaron and Ronnie walked slowly, side by side, with Luca and Minty behind them, the four Darmanitan bringing up the rear.

As they walked, the three humans were sharing the same train of thought. After the fury of Tarik and the darkness of the Relic Castle, Volcarona had shown them a light of hope. It may have been millennia old, having not fought another Pokemon in an age, and it may have been weakened when they found it, but the Sun Pokemon was now restored to its powerful self, the desert's deity. And as they headed out down the passageway towards natural light, perhaps finally they had something powerful enough to fight the Worm. Perhaps finally the monster could be destroyed once and for all by the power of a god..

**A/N: Well, what kind of story would it be if they didn't find what they were looking for? A very short one, put it that way... I know a few of you guessed the god's identity would be Volcarona, so congratulations for that!**

**Next chapter (hopefully soon)- whatever happened to the real enemy, the Death Worm? Where the hell has Lynch gone? And will Volcarona be able to shine? **

**Thank you so much for reading, for your patience with me and your supporting PMs when I disappeared off the face of the Earth! A review is always appreciated, and until next time, adios amigos! :D**

**Sharkness**


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